The Spiraling Empress
by Skairipa1337
Summary: Shaken by the loss of his family to the Kyuubi, Naruto shoulders on, and shows the world that he is, indeed, the son of the fourth Hokage. Keeping the same pace as Itachi, Naruto rises through the ranks, reaching the rank of ANBU, all the while being the best friend of both Itachi and Shisui. Everything seems to be going good until the Uchiha clan died out. Naruto x Mikoto.
1. Naruto Uzumaki

_**Chapter 1.**_

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**Title meaning: Mikoto means Emperor or Empress. The rest should be self-explanatory.**

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**Pairing: Naruto x Uchiha Mikoto.**

**THIS WILL NOT BE A HAREM**

**Warning: The main character's age has been adjusted.**

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_Outskirts of Hi no Kuni._

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As the clouds parted, it allowed the moonlight to engulf the woods of Hi no Kuni. The tree crowns masked any presence as the green leaves shielded anything beneath it from the bright light emitting from the beautiful full moon.

Beneath the crowns of the trees, if you looked closely enough, however, and tried to spot it, you could see two dark blurs, racing across the forest on the large branches of the many trees making up the forest of this country.

Both wore the same black cloak with a hood covering their heads, but almost everything else was completely different. The one on the right was a teen with deep onyx eyes with long black hair made into a ponytail, except for the two bangs that framed his face, which was covered by a porcelain mask resembling a weasel.

The one on the left was a teen just like this partner, but his appearance was quite different. He was quite a tall teen for his age, with medium-length spiky blond hair and sparkling azure eyes. His face was also covered by one of these porcelain masks, the difference was just that instead of resembling a weasel, his mask resembled that of a raven.

The one on the right raised his hand, signaling for a halt at the next branch, on which they landed on with ease. "You ready for this, Raven?" He asked, his tone calm and almost monotone sounding.

"You know, it's only the two of us here, Itachi…" The one on the left sighed as he moved his mask into the palm of his hand, showing his facial features.

The one identified as Itachi removed his mask as well, "You do know that it is part of the ANBU code to always wear our masks and go by our codenames in the field, even if it is just the two of us, right, Naruto-kun?" Itachi sighed and put his mask back in place.

Naruto groaned at the mention of the rules and placed his mask back in place. "Yeah, yeah, whatever man. Just because it's the rules, doesn't mean I have to like them."

"It still means that you have to follow them, though." Itachi countered, and Naruto groaned in annoyance.

"Afraid so, so let's get this over with anyway. What's the plan again?" Naruto asked as he crouched down to stare at the camp located in a clearing about a hundred feet away from them.

Itachi crouched down beside him and looked the camp over as his eyes turned red with three onyx tomoe spinning in each. The Sharingan, also known as the Uchiha clan's precious bloodline limit.

"I spot ten guards, which is quite low, especially since this is such a high-value target. Considering their low numbers, there are quite a few things that can be the cause." Itachi informed.

"Yeah, like the assholes being stronger than mere guards, and more like Shinobi in terms of strength," Naruto added on, to which Itachi nodded.

"Correct, that is indeed a possibility, but on the flip side, our target might as well be going bankrupt, and this could be the only thugs he could afford," Itachi stated as he flipped a kunai into his hand.

Naruto sighed as he reached in and grabbed a kunai that would look odd to most people. It was a tri-pronged kunai, with a red wooden handle instead of the classic metal one that the usual kunai supported.

"But as always, we'll never figure it out unless the missions go bad and are categorized as 'FUBAR'; it's quite sad really. Unless the situation calls for it, we can never really go all out," Naruto mumbled to himself.

Itachi gave a quiet chuckle as he looked to his side to stare at his blond friend, "If that truly was a problem for you, then you would never have joined the ANBU."

"I know, I know, but still, we have to do everything so silent and quiet. It takes some of the fun out of it; like right now, we'll never know these guys' true strength. They could either be Jounin level in strength with some impressive skills, or some lowlife thugs for all we know." Naruto said as he rose back up from his crouched position.

Itachi nodded, somewhat agreeing with him. Despite being a pacifist, there was some excitement to the unknown at times. But he also feared it, being left in blind could be quite horrifying to some extent.

"The ANBU's job is to do things efficiently and quietly. It won't do us, or our village any good if we make this into some huge spectacle." Itachi informed the blond, but Naruto just found Itachi's lecturing to be quite annoying.

He knew this already. He had gone into the ANBU as a trainee as he had, and on the same squad at that! They had both been through the ANBU's upstart protocol together, so why was it that Itachi always felt the need to lecture him?

"But still, you do realize that it's doubtful that they are a group of Jounin, suppressing their chakra levels all the way to bandits. So keep your bloodlust down, you're going to reveal us, and if you do, I'm leaving the paperwork to you."

"Why is it you always feel the need to lecture me about everything, we went through the ANBU program together in case you've forgotten it," Naruto shivered, calming himself down as Itachi went up from his crouched position.

Itachi clapped Naruto's shoulder and chuckled, "Because if you are anything like your mother, then you can get reckless if you don't agree with certain things. I'm just doing my job as your partner, and that in your case involves me making sure that you stick to the rules." And then he shunshined away.

Naruto shook his head as he performed the shunshin as well. Itachi might be his best friend, but damn... the guy needed to chill sometimes. It wasn't like he had magically forgotten the importance of being ANBU, and what responsibilities that came with wearing these masks.

In the camp, things were quiet. Naruto crouched down in a bush as he slowly sneaked forward behind the first guard. Judging from the man's chakra level, he was around the level of a thug. So unless the gods decided to punish them for whatever reason, the mission should be a piece of cake.

The blond flew up from behind the man and held him in a chokehold with his arm, cutting off any oxygen from reaching his lungs. The man struggled quite a bit with his legs spasming as the blond dragged him to a bush, where his suffering ended with a quick twist and a broken neck.

Itachi was having an easy time as well. One of the perks of having the Sharingan was that a simple look in the eyes was enough to immobilize someone through the use of genjutsu. So, with a simple glance, and dragging one out of the clearing to slit his throat in his dazed state, he plowed through his guard.

The eight remaining guards were handled within two minutes, and the duo nodded to each other before quietly sneaking into the tent of their target.

Inside, an obese middle-aged man with short grey hair sat up in his bed, as he noticed that all the commotion from earlier was gone. "What's going on out there, I hope that none of you are sleeping on the job!" He grunted while standing up.

He pushed the tent front open and stared around the clearing. It was empty. There wasn't a single trace of any of his men that he had hired to keep him safe at all. It was silent, empty. It was as if they had disappeared into thin air without making a sound.

"To think I paid them for this, where the hell did they even go?!" He raged as he stormed around to enter his tent. But he quickly spotted something that made his blood freeze. Within spitting distance stood a man clad in a black cloak and a mask. The only noticeable feature about him was the piercing blue eyes.

"They're preparing for your arrival." The man stated simply, and before he could scream, he felt a jolt of pain and it got hard to breathe. He looked down with shaking movement and stared at the blade that was piercing his chest as his face went pale and he collapsed forward.

Naruto scoffed as he sidestepped so he wouldn't get hit by the disgusting man. "You know, you could have killed him and pushed him to the side instead. I don't really appreciate getting touched by such a pig."

As the corpse finally fell to the ground, it revealed Itachi standing behind with a bloodied sword. "At least his blood is on my sword, and not yours. I'd say I took the worse end of the deal this time."

Groaning, the blond waved his hand in front of his partner, "Whatever man, let's burn this place to the ground and return home. We've been hunting this drug lord kingpin wannabe the entire week, and I really feel like sleeping in my own bed for once." Naruto complained as he went inside the tent, followed by Itachi.

Itachi gave a quiet hn as he looked at a crate that was placed beside the bedroll on the ground, "For such a simple mission to take this long was quite unexpected. These guys weren't Shinobi trained, but they still somehow managed to avoid us for five days."

Naruto broke the crate open with a grunt, and said, "Well, that just proves that even weaklings without Shinobi training can be exceptional in some ways."

"I never said they couldn't or weren't," Itachi noted with a raised brow.

"I know, I know, I'm just making conversation as we are about to blow up a crate filled with drugs that may or may not be explosive, without the tags." Naruto shrugged as if it was the simplest thing in the world and placed a couple of explosive tags on the inside of the crate.

Itachi nodded, "I see, finish this quickly. I'll be waiting at the spot where we were; before we engaged the enemy."

"Sounds good," Naruto said and heard the tent front rustle as Itachi left the inside of the tent.

Naruto took his mask off and placed it on the inside of his cloak as he did this. He really disliked having to wear the ANBU mask, but it was an efficient way to disguise yourself in this line of work.

The blond looked inside the crate and noticed a piece of paper that looked like an IOU showcasing a large amount of money. Moving it out of the way, he found a stack of money at the bottom. Raising a brow, he reached down and grabbed the stack of money held together by a little cloth wrap. When he had retrieved the bundle of money, he saw another bundle and chuckled.

'_Man, this criminal line of work must really pay well. This amount of money is what I get for doing an S-Rank mission with a last-minute notice of deployment.' _Naruto thought to himself as he put the bundles inside his cloak and went out of the tent.

The moment he stepped outside, he took his mask and placed it on his face again before shunshining up beside Itachi. "Hey man, look what I found." He chuckled and pulled one of the bundles of money out from his cloak.

"Why did you take that, we were instructed to blow up the properties of the target." Itachi sighed as he stared at the cheerful blond.

Naruto waved his finger in front of his face and stuck the money inside his cloak again, "Actually, our orders were to blow up the drugs."

Itachi shook his head with a small smirk, "Why did you take it again? It's not like you need money."

"Meh, spoils of war." Naruto chuckled as the two leaped away from the scene as a massive explosion happened in the background.

* * *

The journey back to their village, Konohagakure no Sato, had been fast and uneventful. Nothing had occurred, and the duo was able to retreat back to the Hokage's office by dawn without any trouble.

The duo landed on the Hokage's floor and kneeled down, "Hokage-sama." They spoke simultaneously, and the old man turned around in his chair while puffing on a pipe. This was Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Sandaime Hokage, also known as The Professor due to various feats he had accomplished in the glory days of his prime.

"At ease, you two, drop the masks." He ordered and lifted the pipe away from his mouth with a fond smile.

The duo got up from their kneeling position on the floor, and moved the masks away from their faces, and settled for placing them at their hip for the time being. "Mission accomplished, Hokage-sama." Itachi then spoke.

Hiruzen nodded and started to write on a piece of paper, "I trust everything went well, and the target dealing harmful drugs in Hi no Kuni has been eliminated, yes?"

Naruto took this chance to speak, "Yes, the target has been eliminated, and the crate he was bringing with him was destroyed. Though, I decided to retrieve this from the crate." Naruto informed, and pulled the two bundles of money out of his cloak.

Hiruzen nodded and took the two bundles and placed them in a drawer inside his desk, "Good job you two, this money will be used for the good of the village. And of course, the two of you will receive a generous bonus for bringing these much-needed funds to us. You are dismissed until further notice."

The duo nodded and shunshined out of the office, and landed on top of the Hokage tower, in which the Hokage's office was obviously located. "I knew it was a good idea to bring the man's money with us," Naruto smirked as he leaned against the railing with his arms crossed.

"If you really needed the money, then why didn't you just keep it?" Itachi chuckled as he leaned down and rested against the railing while looking over the village.

"I'm going to pretend you didn't just ask that, mister, 'all for the rules' Uchiha. But to humor you, I didn't want to be branded a traitor for keeping information from Oji-san, and it's also going to please him knowing we bring stuff like this to him. Think of it as an investment in his trust and backup in any future matters." Naruto said with a smirk.

Itachi raised a brow at him and snorted, "You're smarter than you look."

"What was that?!" Naruto said with a tick mark throbbing on his forehead.

"Naruto," Itachi interrupted as he got up from his resting position, and looked at the blond.

"Hm?" Naruto grunted, not understanding what was going on.

Itachi clapped him on the back and said, "My mother said she would like to invite you over for dinner after our mission was done. What she means is that ever since you got the duty of overlooking the various security seals within the village, while Jiraiya-sama is away, she is displeased with how little you grant us your presence."

Naruto shivered at the thought. Mikoto could be really scary when she was angry with something, and he didn't even want to think about how scary she could be when she was _mad_ about something.

"Yeah… I know, it just isn't really comfortable being in your home sometimes." Naruto sighed and closed his eyes while taking a deep breath.

Itachi's brow went further upon his forehead, "How come?"

Naruto opened his eyes and gave a snort, "Don't tell me that the almighty Uchiha Itachi hasn't noticed how displeased his father is every time that I'm around. I don't know why, but I must've done something to upset him."

"I've noticed, but I don't think it has anything to do with you as a person," Itachi said in a monotone voice.

Naruto's face adopted a confused look, "How can it not be my fault, it isn't like he acts like that when I'm out of his sight."

"He does actually; I suspect it has something to do with him still having sour feelings left after the Yondaime Hokage selection where you're father beat him to it. I've heard that Orochimaru was also displeased about the results." Itachi explained to the best of his abilities.

Naruto snorted as he palmed his forehead, "So, I get to take the blame for something my father has done. Great, that makes me feel so much better." Naruto said sarcastically while Itachi shook his head.

"Anyhow, my mother still wishes to see you for dinner. It would be delightful if you'd come, she misses seeing you around, and so does Sasuke. Shisui might also be there if that makes anything better for you." Itachi said with a small smile.

Naruto sighed and stared at the blue skies above him, "I'll think about it, but I want to go home and continue studying my father's notes… I almost have it. Sometimes I really wonder if Kaa-san taught me the sealing she could, so I'd be working closely with Tou-san since he was always so busy at the office. Maybe she thought of it as a way to get me closer to him, because I was quite sad about never seeing him."

"Where does this come from?" Itachi questioned.

Naruto sighed again, and pushed off the railing he was leaning against, "I don't know, it just comes out when I let my mind run loose."

"Dangerous mind you have then." Itachi meant as a joke, but Naruto just shrugged.

"Yeah, sometimes it gets the better of me."

* * *

The sun was setting in the distance as Naruto made his way out of the T&I department with one Ibiki Morino in tow. Naruto rubbed his shoulder as he gave a short but relieved sigh. He was finally done for today and looked forward to a meal and some much-needed rest.

"I'm sorry for dragging you out of your home so late, but Inoichi thought that the security seals inside the interrogation cells might've been too outdated, but it seems like everything was alright, no?" Ibiki asked with a grunt.

Naruto turned around and looked at the man that had scars covering the majority of his face, "Everything was quite alright, but the models are quite outdated compared to the one that has been placed at the ANBU holding cells."

Ibiki nodded, "I trust Hokage-sama will hear of this, and work on having some newer versions installed soon?" He asked afterward.

"I'll bring it to his attention, yes. And I have little to no doubt that I'll be the one to set them up before the week is over," Naruto informed with a tired smile.

"That is pleasing news, I'll inform Inoichi of this. Good evening Naruto-san." Ibiki said with a small bow, slightly reveling in Naruto's displeasure before he returned inside.

Naruto groaned in annoyance. Of course, this just had to happen! He had been on his way home after shopping and training for the day when a fellow ANBU member had told him that the T&I department needed a look, something that had taken a good three hours to finish.

"So, this is where you're hiding?" A voice called out from above him.

Naruto looked up as he noticed a form falling from above, and he took a step back when a teen with short black hair landed in front of him, "Shisui-sama?" he asked with a small wave of a hand.

"The one and only," Shisui smirked as he pointed a thumb at himself.

Grunting Naruto made his way down the stairs up to the T&I department, with Shisui following right after. "Any reason you're interrupting my evening Shisui?"

"Well, Mikoto-sama feared that you might ditch dinner with Itachi and co, so she sent me to make sure that you're coming. It starts in ten minutes, by the way... It took quite a while to hunt you down." Shisui informed him as they walked side by side through the streets of Konoha.

"I had work. Ibiki thought that some of the seals were broken in the T&I department, but they were just outdated." Naruto sighed as he walked up a few stairs to an apartment complex.

Shisui rose a brow as he walked up behind the blond, "Why're you living here again? You have your family's estate."

"Memories," Naruto said simply, and opened the door to his apartment, and walked inside.

Shisui walked in and closed the door after him, and watched Naruto for a few minutes as the blond unsealed several scrolls filled with groceries and supplies, and then started to put them away in the fridge and cabinets after.

"You're coming, right? Mikoto-sama is going to skin me alive if I don't bring you back with me." Shisui asked, hopefully.

Naruto sighed as he put a tray of eggs in the bottom of his fridge, "It isn't really that welcoming for me, there. Mikoto-basan might like me, but Fugaku-san resents the very sight, sound, or smell of me."

"Aren't you overexaggerating a little bit?" Shisui asked with a raised brow.

"He told me to be quiet last time I was over for breakfast because I talked with Itachi. He meant that I disturbed his reading of the morning papers." Naruto rolled his eyes after saying that.

Shisui chuckled and sat down on a chair, "That old man could just read that stuff on the toilet while doing the number two."

Naruto gave a few quiet chuckles, "If I had said that, I would probably be banished from the clan grounds, instantly."

"Mikoto-sama wouldn't have allowed that, she's really fond of you, you know? Especially your friendship with Itachi… that makes her really happy. She has secretly told me, in confidence, that she was afraid Itachi might've had a harder time making friends, because of his father's actions during his early childhood. But then you and I showed up to save the day." Shisui said while inspecting a net filled with oranges.

"Wouldn't that make her fond of you as well?" Naruto asked as he grabbed the net from Shisui's hand, and filled a glass bowl with the oranges and placed it on the circular wooden dining table Shisui was sitting at.

Shisui rested his head on the palm of his hand, "Meh, she thinks that I'm kind of a bad influence at times. What did you do to make her think so highly of you anyway?"

"Perhaps it's because I'm less irresponsible than you?" Naruto said. And then there was a moment of silence before they both roared out laughing.

"Come on, man! If she knew what kind of books you're hiding in here, then she'd kill you and feed you to Fugaku-sama!" Shisui roared out laughing.

That quickly shut Naruto up, because he was too busy feeling terrified. She would really kill him if she knew of his bad habit. His brother figure, Hatake Kakashi, and his godfather, Jiraiya, had really corrupted him as he grew up.

"I should just burn those books…" Naruto groaned and filled the bowl with some other leftover fruits from the week before that hadn't rotted away yet.

Shisui faked a horrified look, "No! You can't! Those books are _my precious_. If you want to throw them away, you could always just… give them to me."

Rolling his eyes, Naruto turned to stare at Shisui, "And you question why she thinks of you as a bad influence…"

"Don't be rude… I'm not the one ditching the family dinners." Shisui winked.

Naruto started throwing the empty fruit nets out in a trashcan placed in a cabinet under the sink, "A family dinner is for family, I don't really qualify as that."

"Come _ooon_! If you aren't family, then what are you?" Shisui said in an annoyed tone. The Uchiha clan, well, with the exception of Fugaku, all thought of Naruto as a friend of the family by now. The blond was quite often present with Itachi after all, either for missions, or training, so they had gotten quite familiar with him.

Naruto didn't bother to give a response as he went over and turned off the lights, "You coming?" He asked and walked toward the door.

Shisui grinned ear to ear and rushed out of the front door, "I knew you wouldn't abandon me!" Shisui smiled as he turned around only to get the front door smacked right in his face. And so he stood there, with a twitching eyebrow.

He was about to knock on the door when it opened and Naruto walked out, "I'm just kidding, no reason to look so pissed off." He smirked and locked the door and pocketed the key.

"That wasn't funny!"


	2. Dinner with the Uchiha

_**Chapter 2.**_

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**Pairing: Naruto x Uchiha Mikoto.**

**THIS WILL NOT BE A HAREM**

**Warning: The main character's age has been adjusted.**

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_Konohagakure no Sato._

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"Apologize..." Shisui growled as he ran after the blond, who had just slammed his front door, in his face.

Naruto gave a small smirk, "No…"

"Apologize!" Shisui then yelled as he ran up beside him, to send death glares Naruto's way.

Naruto laughed with a mischievous look, "I said no you moron, are you deaf?"

"Apologi- wait, what?! Moron? I'm not the one who slammed a door in my friend's face, and laughed about it like a dick!" Shisui screamed as he made a motion to pull up his sleeve, which was quite ironic considering his black shirt was sleeveless, and attempted to punch Naruto in the face, but the blond just ducked under it.

Naruto was about to retort, when he heard a voice beside them, "What's all this commotion about?"

Naruto gave a fleeting glance at the two familiar faces now watching them with amused looks. One was a female, about a head shorter than him, with long purple hair, brown eyes, red lips, whilst finishing her attire with an ANBU uniform. She was his former teammate on his genin team, but now a teammate of his ANBU squad. One Uzuki Yugao.

The second one was a male who sported a brown, shoulder-length hair that framed both his face and brown eyes. He wore his forehead protector like a bandanna, along with the standard Jonin outfit... and as always, he has his 'trademark senbon' in his mouth. This was, Shiranui Genma, One former Jounin sensei of Uzumaki Naruto-desu.

Naruto gave a smirk as he dodged another punch from Shisui with ease, "Oh, it's just Shisui being overdramatic. It must be his time of the month."

Yugao gave a soft giggle as Shisui's eyes flared red, "Overdramatic?! Now listen here you little shit- ARGH!"

Instead of getting his threat across, he got his mouth full of dirt. Shisui's head flew up from the ground, and he stared at his feet, noticing that he had just been tripped by the blond as he was about to go for an attack.

"You about done yet?" Naruto asked, failing to pull a Kakashi, as a smirk was steadily crawling onto his face.

Shisui got back on his feet, with smoke pouring out of his ears, "You're so dead, just you wait for it, shithead!"

"Yeah, yeah, don't throw empty threats around Shisui, it's embarrassing," Naruto said with a grin, making his former genin team chuckle at the bickering duo.

"I'll show you empty threats…" Shisui growled but before he could do anything, he was interrupted by a cough from Genma.

"Not that it isn't funny watching you because, _believe _me. It is. Really. But I'd like to have a word with my former student here, you know, _before _you _try_ to kill him." Genma chuckled, making Shisui mumble something out of embarrassment.

The young Uchiha scoffed, and crossed his arms over his chest, "This isn't over…" He mumbled while glaring at the blond.

"It is though…" Naruto winked, making Shisui's anger intensify even further.

The blond walked over and gave Genma a brief fistbump, as the older Jounin gave a smirk in return, "How's life treating ya?"

Naruto shrugged, "It's fine I suppose, but I don't really have all evening to chat with you guys. The moron back there is dragging me to a family dinner at the Uchiha compound, and I'm sure Mikoto-basan is going to kill me if I'm anymore late than I already am."

"I see, oh well, I won't hold you any longer then. Tell Itachi I said hi, and that it would be nice for the entire team to have a joined meal again soon, I'm paying if that helps anything." Genma offered with a weak smile.

Yugao, however, gave a sadistic chuckle, "Be careful about what you promise, Sensei, Naruto might eat so much at the barbeque restaurant again that you go bankrupt for a week. And what if he gets drunk again. With the help of clones, you might be bankrupt for a month."

"That was one time…" Naruto mumbled with a minor blush.

Shisui, however, picked this time to roar out laughing, "Haha! You're a fat shit, aren't you?! With how cheap the barbeque spot is, how the hell did you manage to eat so much, that the poor guy had no money left?!"

"If you don't shut up, I'll kill you before you can try to kill me…" Naruto said, with his hair rising up, along with a deadly aura emitting from behind him.

Shisui didn't pay any attention to that, and just wiped a tear away from his eye, "Yeah, I'd like to see you try!"

"That's it, I'm going to neuter you, and place a surprise in Fugaku's soup!" Naruto mutter, and drew a kunai making Shisui gulp in surprise.

"Hey! Stop that, we are out in the public. That's quite embarrassing you know, you're supposed to be an elite of the village, Naruto, but you aren't keeping your cool. I thought I taught you better." Genma lectured, making Naruto fall comically on the ground with a rain cloud pouring over his head.

As Shisui was about to laugh his ass off, Genma stopped him. "You aren't any better Shisui, you are known throughout the nations because of your title as Shunshin no Shisui, I would have thought you would carry yourself with a little more respect than this. But you are acting like an infant."

Now it was Shisui's time to fall down beside Naruto with a rain cloud over his head. "We're sorry…" They mumbled together.

Yugao looked at a watch hanging on the side of one of the stores in the street and rose a brow. "Weren't you guys already getting late for a dinner at the Uchiha's house?"

A moment of silence caught them, before Naruto and Shisui flew off from the ground, "Mikoto sama/basan is going to kill us!" They screamed and ran so fast that not even the dirt and dust cloud following them could keep up.

The remaining duo of teacher and student shook their heads. Those two were the worst kind of siblings; two brothers always at each other's throat, a mere chemical mixture meant for chaos.

* * *

The blond and raven-haired duo ran so fast that they almost crashed into the door of the Uchiha's estate but they somehow managed to stop themselves just a few feet in front of the main gate.

Naruto's was doubled over with his hands on his knees while trying to catch his breath when Shisui heard the sound of rapidly closing in footsteps, of a certain _someone_ coming their way. Quietly he moved behind Naruto, without the blond noticing and prepared a foot behind the blond's legs.

And as if it was a cue, the door sprung open and a small dark-haired child flew out with a large grin on his face, "Naruto-san!" He screamed the top of his lungs, and the blond looked on his horror as he tried to take a step back, but felt himself falling back over.

And just as he was starting to lose his footing, the horrifying entity, known as the 'Sasuke bullet,' flew into his gut, making him fly back and crash into the ground with a loud thud.

Naruto landed on his back, wheezing, as all air was punched out of his lungs and he laid groaning on the ground with a still grinning child sat on his stomach.

Shisui roared out laughing, as if it was the new trend, before proceeding to point at Naruto with teary eyes. "That's for the fucking door you dumb shit!" He yelled and kept on laughing so hard, that he fell down on his knees and repeatedly slammed his fist into the ground.

Naruto glared his way, "You're so dead now, I swear I'm going to kill you slowly and brutally Shisui..." He wheezed out before his head fell back on the ground with a groan escaping his lips.

Sasuke who had initially been amused, while looking at the scene, started looking down at Naruto with a nervous sweatdrop falling down his forehead. "Naruto-san, are you alright?"

"Never been better…" The blond wheezed out, making Shisui cry out laughing even louder.

"What's wrong pal? You look a little pale…" Shisui cried, the tears flowing down his face as he found it hard to breathe due to laughing so much.

Naruto decided that his revenge would come soon enough, so he gathered his strength and took a deep breath before moving Sasuke away from his stomach, "A little warning next time would be good, Sasuke."

The child looked a bit flustered as he scratched the back of his head while the blond got off the ground.

Naruto poked Sasuke on the shoulder and made a 'follow me' motion with his head as the two started to walk in through the front door.

Shisui who had gathered himself as well walked a few feet behind the two, but just as he was about to enter the door. It was slammed into his face. Again.

Shisui howled in pain, and rolled backward down the few stairs while clutching his now bleeding nose, "Oh you fucking didn't!" He tried to yell, but the sound was muffled due to him pinching his nose to stop the blood from running out of his nose.

Naruto chuckled with tears in his eyes as he turned around the hallway. But the sight before him made him want to run out of the house in an instant because what he saw sent shivers up his spine, and made his legs quiver in fear.

In front of him stood a stunning fair-skinned woman with long, straight black hair with bangs hanging on either side of her face to roughly frame her cheeks and black eyes.

It wasn't that she was stunning that made him scared. Oh no, it was the blindingly happy smile that was on her face, and the cold aura of death, cascading into a Hanya mask behind her.

"Oh, it's so nice of you to join us tonight Naruto-kun, did you perhaps have any _other_ plans for tonight?" She asked all too sweetly, as she moved closer making Naruto's fear increase tenfold as he tried to move backward, but his back hit the wall while his teeth were chattering.

"N-No?" Naruto chuckled out nervously while looking at the dangerous woman in front of him.

As if it was the password, the aura of death along with the Hanya mask, disappeared in an instant, and Mikoto's smile turned natural. "Good." She giggled and moved back into the kitchen with Sasuke in tow.

Sasuke looked between her and Naruto, as the blond fell down alongside the door with a sigh of relief, "What was that about Kaa-chan?"

"Hmm, what do you mean Sasuke-chan?" Mikoto asked as she stirred the content of a pot on the stove.

Sasuke hummed and looked at Naruto who was still sitting on the floor, "Why was Naruto-san shaking so badly?" he asked, tilting his head inquisitively.

"Oh, I'm not sure. I mean, I just greeted him, and everything looked fine to me… Right, _Naruto-kun_?" Mikoto asked, with the cold aura returning momentarily.

"Uh-huh!" Naruto nodded rapidly as he flew back to his feet, resolutely ignoring his cold sweatdrops.

"See?" Mikoto said with a smile, looking down at her youngest son who just sweatdropped at her with an amused look.

Taking his chance to escape this nightmare, Naruto took off his sandals and snuck into the dining room behind Mikoto's back, just to come eye to eye with one Uchiha Fugaku…

"Uhm, good evening Fugaku-san, I'm sorry for being late." Naruto apologized, with a small bow.

The man's cold eyes stared at him for a few seconds, making Naruto gulp as he feared that what he had predicted before coming here, were becoming reality. But his worries seemed to be for naught.

"It should be alright, my wife isn't done cooking anyway," Fugaku said, as his eyes returned to the papers he had laid on the table.

Naruto's brows flew upon his forehead in surprise. Fugaku had just acted casual with him, what kind of witchcraft was this?

"Is everything alright, Fugaku-san?" Naruto asked in a careful manner, as he tried to read the stoic Uchiha clan head's body language.

Fugaku looked up with the same stoic face, and asked, "Why shouldn't it be?"

"Don't know, I was just asking, you know, to be friendly," Naruto explained, making Fugaku nod before his eyes wandered down to his papers again.

Naruto shook his head in disbelief and excused himself to go find Itachi. _'That was odd…'_

Back with Fugaku, the man merely stared with narrowed eyes toward the blond's back.

* * *

When dinner had finally been served, Naruto eagerly looked at the dishes in front of them in delight. He had a feeling that he knew why his favorite food was being served, but he wouldn't complain. Nope, not at all.

They were all seated around the table now, Fugaku was placed at the end of the table at his usual spot, and Naruto sat with Itachi on his left, and Sasuke on the right, while the latter had his mother in front of him, and Shisui placed to her left.

While the table was set with a variety of dishes, Naruto's favorite had to be the fish that had been marinated in miso soup, and for Sasuke's sake, there were several more child-friendly dishes as well, a lot of them involving tomatoes, which were the young Uchiha's favorite thing to eat.

Dinner was a quiet affair, everyone was just focusing on their meals until Fugaku decided to say something, "So, how'd your mission go?"

Naruto kept himself from speaking, simply believing that the question was meant for Itachi to answer, which he did.

"The mission went without trouble. Naruto-kun and I dealt with it in under an hour, the time-consuming part was locating our objective." Itachi answered, making Fugaku nod with a satisfied look. He wasn't smiling, but he didn't look as stuck up as he usually did.

"I trust everything went fine on your end as well?" Fugaku then asked, but the table was utterly silent.

Naruto took some of the miso soup with a spoon when he suddenly realized that Fugaku's eyes were looking toward _him_ of all people, so he laid down the spoon and looked around to notice everyone's eyes were on him, and he coughed into his hand and responded.

"Uhm, yeah, no problem encountered here. Everything went fine, and nothing bad happened." Naruto answered while being a bit shocked, or rather, he was really shocked. Fugaku had never asked him a question like this before, so this was, indeed, a surprise.

"Very well then," Fugaku said with a short nod and returned back to eating. But the older man didn't miss the curious and questioning glances he received from his wife, sons, and Shisui.

Naruto rose a brow and leaned to his left and whispered to Itachi, "Hey, is your dad acting weird or is it just me?"

"It is quite surprising for him to act nice toward you I'm afraid, but I have no idea what has caused it," Itachi said with a calculating gaze.

Naruto scoffed and played a bit with his food, "Perhaps Mikoto-basan beat him with a belt or something."

Itachi snorted at the image appearing in his head, "I highly doubt it. I'm sure she'd love to, but the marks it would leave behind would surely cause questions around the compound."

"So you're saying that if it wasn't for the image it would give the clan, she would have done it?" Naruto asked surprised.

"Their marriage isn't what it has been, and even while saying that, I'm not sure it has ever been as delightful as Okaa-san hoped it would be when they signed the contract…" Itachi sighed and returned back to eating.

Naruto's brows rose in surprise at that. Mikoto and Fugaku's marriage was a contract? That would certainly explain a lot of things, especially how someone as kind as her, would be with someone as grumpy and rude as him.

Naruto shook his head and returned back to eating, but before he'd take another bite he made a polite smile toward Mikoto and said, "The meal is delicious, thanks for inviting me."

The older woman gave a soft hum, and smiled at him, "Why thank you, that's kind of you to say, you're always welcome to join us. Right, Fugaku?"

"Hn…"

"Fugaku…"

"Uhm, yes, what she said." The man coughed into his hand, making almost everyone at the table roll their eyes at him.

Naruto shook his head, and returned to his conversation, "I'll keep that in mind, and I apologize for not being over much these days. I've had a lot going on these days, especially since I've been trying to learn one of my father's jutsu. Anyhow, with such delicious food on the table, you might start throwing me out of the house because I ate it all."

"Flatterer, at least someone appreciates my efforts in the kitchen," Mikoto said with a big smile.

Despite her happy smile, Naruto couldn't miss the glance sent toward the end of the table. _'Arranged marriage, huh?' _He pondered and started to see a lot of things he wasn't able to see before.

Of course, he wasn't blind and had seen quite a few times when Fugaku and Mikoto didn't agree on things, and arguments had certainly been heated at as well. And it all made him wonder, why did this arranged marriage occur? And why did Mikoto agree to it? Was she the one who requested it? A lot of questions were filling his mind right now, and he was curious about the answers.

Fugaku paused for a moment, before continuing on with his dinner, only taking a moment to blink, in disinterest.

Dinner continued with idle banter as it finally came to a close before Fugaku spoke up. "Itachi. Shisui. Tonight, there will be a clan meeting. Be sure you attend."

After saying as much, and receiving two nods in return, he stood up, and took his leave, taking brisk, yet controlled steps, out of the room.

Finally, everyone else stood up, with Naruto helping Mikoto with the dishes… mostly to appease her wrath, and got ready to leave. Once the dishes were away, Naruto and Shisui began to leave towards the front door, while the rest of the family saw them out

Sasuke was a simple case, he got a quick hug and had already run off to his room as he yelled "Bye!"

Itachi shook his head at his little brother's antics, it was quite un-Uchiha like, but it was a refreshing change. He didn't disapprove, nor did he approve. "Safe trip home, don't get into any trouble."

"Jeez Itachi, how much trouble do you honestly believe we can get into on our way_ home_, of all places?" Shisui snorted and crossed his arms across his chest.

"Considering it's the two of you, and together, nothing in the village is a hundred percent safe," Itachi smirked, making Shisuis's brow twitch.

"You're just as annoying as Naruto, if not more so," Shisui smirked back, and Itachi just chuckled.

"As if that was possible." He retorted.

"I'm standing right here, you bunch of assholes…" Naruto growled and elbowed Shisui in the gut.

Shisui doubled over, and coughed out, "Why was I the only one getting hit?"

"Because I don't trust Itachi to be caught off guard?" Naruto shrugged.

"Touche…" Shisui wheezed out.

Itachi looked on amused as he put out his hand, which Naruto took. "Good trip home, don't be a stranger."

"I won't. I'll see you at our next mission, which hopefully won't be too long before we're deployed again. I'm going to need a good stress relief after tomorrow" Naruto said, and Itachi nodded before he gave his excuses and left as well.

Shisui noticed that Mikoto looked at Naruto like she wanted to talk with him, so he quickly bid her farewell and said his thanks for the food before he left, and while he was doing so, he signaled to Naruto that he would be waiting outside.

Naruto just nodded in response, before turning back to look at the raven-haired woman, "Thanks for inviting me, and for the food obviously. You're an amazing cook, tastes better than anything I could ever make by a long shot." He grinned.

Mikoto gave a soft smile, "Flatterer, but I'm glad you enjoyed it. In a household filled with Uchiha, it's a nice change to hear it, anyhow."

"Anyhow, it was nice seeing you. I hope you take care, especially for tomorrow. I'll make sure to visit after you've left, as not to intrude." Mikoto said with sorrow-filled eyes.

"It wouldn't be an intrusion, but that's your choice. Thanks, and see you next time." Naruto responded with his back turned, and waving his hand.

"Of course, however, personal time is important, especially for tomorrow…" She argued back, making Naruto shrug with half-lidded eyes.

"Anyhow, thanks for today, I enjoyed it very much," Naruto responded, but before he could leave, he was engulfed in a warm hug.

"As my son said, don't be a stranger. It's displeasing when you stay away, your company is delightful and required." She said with a small grin, making Naruto just scratch his head while being flustered.

"I'll try to come over more often. Jaa ne." He waved, which she returned.

Naruto walked outside and met Shisui standing up against a nearby lamppost.

As the pair began to walk away, the taller of the two spoke up, "So… do you want me to come with you, tomorrow?"

Taking a deep breath, and a moment to center themselves, a response of, "No, I can handle it myself, but thanks." was finally delivered.

* * *

**Another chapter is done, but today I got a question to ask you guys.**

**What are **_**your**_** thoughts and opinions on seals / fuinjutsu? Let me know. Is it something that interests you?**

**Also, a quick note is that I'm sorry for the gap of time I didn't post in since last chapter, Christmas came around, and New Years Eve is just around the corner, I apologize. **


	3. The woman with red hair

_**Chapter 3.**_

* * *

**Pairing: Naruto x Uchiha Mikoto. **

**THIS WILL NOT BE A HAREM**

**Warning: The main character's age has been adjusted.**

**A/N: To the guest asking about ages and Kyuubi; Naruto is the only one that has had his age-adjusted, and everything else you've asked about will be revealed in due time. I can spoil this much, it will happen in a few chapters. Jaa ne.**

* * *

_Konohagakure no Sato - Graveyard._

* * *

As the wind flowed through the area swaying his hair along with the leaves, his eyes never left the three flat stones in front of him. He was crouched down in a daze; his eyes glazed as if he wasn't there at all.

People walked through the area, paying their respects before they left again. It almost seemed like he had been there the entire day to most people, which he had. He had been sitting in the same position since dawn, not moving a muscle.

The three stones in front of him were what he had been focusing on before he lost himself to his train of thoughts. The first two stones had two names engraved… Names that had once meant a lot to him. They still did, perhaps even more so now.

_Uzumaki Kushina _

_Namikaze Minato _

He still remembered it as if it happened yesterday. An impressive feat, considering he had only been five when it had happened. The emotions he felt, the terror he experienced, it was burned into his memory.

The last stone, had an entirely different name engraved. It was a smaller stone, placed in the middle of the two other ones.

_Uzumaki Menma _

That name. It saddened him the most. It was a person that died too early. A _person_. His life had been over before it began, he never managed to live or experience anything besides death.

Menma Uzumaki, it was his little brother. It was a boy that should have meant the world to him around now. He mourned his loss, but he mourned the loss of never getting the chance to know him better. Maybe it made him cold that he didn't miss him that much, but it was hard to miss someone you never knew. He could only miss and grieve over what he wanted them to be.

Siblings.

He had smiled the day that he had heard his mother proudly proclaim that she was pregnant again. He had wanted to grow up strong, to protect the unborn child inside her. He wanted to be strong, brave and loving for the kid that would, at some point after ten months, become his sibling.

He had wanted to be able to teach him so much. His training had started early, and he had worked hard so that he could be somebody that his little sibling would be proud of. But he never managed to figure out if he would be proud of him. Because he died. Just like his parents.

He wondered every day if they were watching him and if they were proud or ashamed of him. He mostly believed it was the latter, because, despite the love a parent always would have for their child, he had failed that night.

They had died right there in front of him, gasping their last words out in from him, while he was unharmed. He had done nothing as they died, he had tried, but he had been too scared to move… If anything, his only actions had caused their death.

He had only seen his little brother alive for a few minutes. He had failed to do the one thing that was required of him. If anything, he has caused the death of the very person that he was responsible for protecting… If only he hadn't screamed.

Naruto shook his head, trying to avoid thinking about his nightmares as he looked up at the skies. It was around noon now. He had been here since dawn. Getting down on his knees, he noticed his muscles crying in discomfort, he had been crouched in an uncomfortable position for over six hours after all.

He leaned forward and folded his hands on the ground while leaning his forehead down to rest it on top of his fingers. "I'm sorry for my failure. There isn't even one day that goes by, where I don't regret being the cause of your deaths. I'm sorry I wasn't the son or brother you needed in the end."

Sitting back up, his gaze fell upon the bundle of flowers that he brought with him… The same bundle of flowers that he brought every year. A White rose and carnation… A crimson rose, surrounded by a purple and blue hyacinth… And lastly, three daisies for each of them.

Wiping his tears away as he stared, once more, at the graves in front of him, "I understand if you'll never forgive me, I wouldn't forgive myself either. Just promise me that you are together up there, taking care of each other."

As he opened his mouth to say something else, he was interrupted by someone's voice beside him, "You know, I'd kick your ass if it was _my_ grave that you were sulking in front of. You'd be scaring all the hot girls away."

Naruto absently looked up with a blank face, it was Shisui standing there. But the expression on his face was... unusual. Despite him smiling, the smile was sad and filled with sympathy. Taking a deep breath, Naruto decided to prod him, "What're you doing here Shisui, I recall myself saying that I'd do this on my own," he asked in a monotonous voice.

"And you should know that I'm a better friend than that. You're hurting man, what kind of friend would I be if I let you cry on your lonesome? I kept my distance for a while so you could have your personal time, but after a while, it was clearly obvious that you were just torturing yourself by staying. How many times must you be reminded that what happened was never, and never will be your fault?" Shisui asked, with a stern gaze.

Naruto's eyes glossed over as he returned to staring at the gravestones in front of him. Specifically his little brother's. "But it was my fault. If I had just stayed away, or better yet, kept myself quiet... I failed them… Him."

After a second Naruto's eyes widened as he was sent flying to the ground with his cheek stinging. Had the bastard just punched him? "What the hell?!" Naruto snarled as he looked at Shisui, but was shocked to find an enraged expression on the teen's face.

Before he could do anything he was picked up by the collar, "How can you say that you failed him?! True you might have made a mistake, but what could you have done? You were just five-years-old man, you were just a kid. But you have been here, every single year on the anniversary of both his birth and his death, since it happened. You come here and tell tales and stories. You tell him about the world around his resting place, and you tell him about how much you would have loved to know him, teach him and love him as his brother. Do you honestly believe he could ever wish more from you?" Shisui asked, his voice quiet now as he put the blond down.

Naruto gave a dry chuckle and looked at the graves, "I just miss them so much."

Shisui put a hand on top of his shoulder, and sighed, "I miss my parents too, but there is nothing we could or can do to change what had happened. Now the only thing we can do is hope that they are together wherever they are, and make sure to visit them to let them know that we're okay and that they shouldn't worry about us."

"I guess you're right. Thanks, I think I needed a wake-up call." Naruto admitted and tried to rub the tearstains from his face.

Shisui gave a sly smirk, "Oh no worries, I'll gladly punch you whenever I get the chance!"

"You just had to ruin it, didn't you?" Naruto asked in a deadpan, as his eyebrows began to twitch.

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

* * *

_A day later…_

In the Hokage's office, Hiruzen dropped a folder on his desk with a heavy sigh. "So this is the reason you want him to go on this mission?" The old Hokage asked the man standing in front of him, who nodded.

"Yes, it would be beneficial to the village, but also to him." The man spoke calmly, without any emotion present in his voice.

"I'm not sure Danzo, with today taken into consideration, it might not be the best time," Hiruzen spoke, while Danzo merely gave a snort.

The old Warhawk sat down in the chair in front of the Hokage's desk, and said, "Trust me on this Hiruzen, it's the best time for it. Taking his current emotions and the probable thoughts running through his head, he'll be more than motivated."

"I can't argue with that. But I would have liked if you had gone to me in the first place, coming with this to me now is a bit late, and I would've been able to make some more preparations beforehand if I had known earlier." Hiruzen sighed and lit up his pipe.

Danzo nodded, "That is true, but I wouldn't have come to you with a mere rumor which would have left disappointment in both you and him if it had been proven false."

Feeling like sighing again, Hiruzen flipped the folder open again and stared momentarily at the contents within before closing it. "Alright, I'll put him on this mission. Hopefully, they'll be able to make him happier than he is now."

"The boy is a shell of his former self. This should prove beneficial in his recovery." Danzo said.

"Recovery?" Hiruzen then asked with a raised brow.

"Why yes, the boy has lived through a lot of trauma already. He needs this to heal, I fear that not much else will do." Danzo then replied calmly.

"Very well then, you are dismissed Danzo. I'll send for him immediately." Hiruzen finished, and Danzo left without saying anything else.

"Boar!" Hiruzen called out, and a large muscular man landed in front of him, wearing the ANBU uniform.

"Hokage-sama?" The man addressed, and Hiruzen pulled his pipe away from his mouth.

"Go fetch Uzumaki Naruto for me. I have a mission of the utmost importance for him." Hiruzen ordered, and the man left with a brief nod.

* * *

Naruto walked into the Hokage tower with a stretch of his arms and back, it was early in the morning, just around the peak of dawn. He wondered why he had been summoned so soon, it hadn't even been two days yet since his return to the village from his last mission.

Rubbing his eyes with a groan, he was kind of wishing that he had gone to bed earlier last night, but then again, he managed to make a ton of progress regarding all of the notes that his father had left behind. Despite feeling like a failure to his family, he wanted to at least make sure that the things that they were proud of weren't forgotten. Even if he didn't feel worthy to read them at times.

But negative thoughts aside, he had learned a lot. He was finally feeling like he was getting closer to the goal, and was getting quite ecstatic about being done. It did however also leave a sad feeling inside of him because he didn't know what to do when he was done. He would have finished the project, and would then need a new one to spend his free time on.

Well, there was also his _novels _and fishing he could turn to, but despite how much enjoyed doing those things, it was the life of a Shinobi that was his passion. He wanted to explore the world and learn the various jutsu and techniques found within it. He couldn't do that if he was buried in a book or sitting by a lake in the shade of a tree... Regardless of how much he enjoyed doing just that.

Shaking his head to clear him of all these thoughts, Naruto yawned loudly as he arrived in the waiting room, making the receptionist giggle at him with a hand in front of her mouth, something that caused the blond to blush in slight embarrassment. "Uhm, sorry…" He grinned sheepishly, realizing he had just done that without noticing that she was there. Where had his Shinobi skills run off to?

"Oh, no reason to apologize. He is waiting for you, please enter." She responded with a smile, making Naruto just cough into his hand before turning around to avoid any more embarrassing interactions.

Trying to rub the sleepiness out of his eyes again, Naruto opened the door in front of him and entered swiftly, before closing it behind him. "You wanted to see me?" Naruto stated more than asked, to which the Sandaime nodded.

"Why yes, there is something that has come to my attention, something that I want you to take care of. It is a mission, and the length may vary quite a bit. It can be anything from a month to three because it is mostly a spying mission." Hiruzen said, making Naruto's brow raise. Despite being ANBU, it wasn't often that he of all people was sent to spy on someone.

"What's the details? Let me know, and I'll go get in my uniform." Naruto said, making Hiruzen shake his head.

"This isn't an ANBU mission, it is a political mission in which you will act as an ambassador. This might be confusing, I know, but let me explain." Hiruzen said, making Naruto just nod his head in silence.

"There is a family of two in Kusagakure, which is currently being treated horribly from the people of Kusa. The family consists of a mother and daughter, where the mother is said to be on the verge of starving; constantly taken away from home against her will only to return exhausted and bleeding later in the night, which in return makes the child grow up alone in a house that barely functions." Hiruzen stated, reading just a few out of the many points from the folder that Danzo had presented him.

"I can understand that you want something done, and I will, but how is this of any concern to Konoha?" Naruto asked curiously.

Hiruzen sighed, "Because the two people might as well be from a clan that is almost dying out, one which two of our former kages were quite close to."

"I see, so to save this clan from extinction, I'll have to do what exactly?" Naruto asked.

"I want you to spy on them and gather evidence concerning their treatment. When you have enough evidence gathered, Kusa will be forced to hand these two over. Despite having evidence here, it was gathered by the people under Danzo, and I'm sure that you can remember our talk about them." Hiruzen said, and Naruto just nodded.

"Yeah, Ne." He responded.

"Exactly my boy. Now, because the foundation is a shadow organization, we can't use this information because of the chance that it might cause Danzo's organization to become public. Despite how much I'm against them, I can't disagree with how useful they can be. This, for example, would never have come to my attention without their help." Hiruzen admitted.

Naruto sighed, and asked, "Anything you can tell me about the people I'm supposed to watch?"

Hiruzen this time smirked, "Oh, you'll know enough from the moment you lay eyes on them. And I'm sure it will also grant you more than enough motivation to see this mission a success instead of a failure. I trust that you'll take care of this?" Hiruzen smiled and handed the mission scroll to Naruto.

Despite being confused, Naruto did a short nod of agreement, "Yeah I'll do it, no problem. Do I have permission to speak on your behalf on this mission?"

"Of course, you've never given me a reason to doubt your political skills before. Despite the many times that you've found yourself in one so far in your short life." Hiruzen stated, in a manner that seemed… proud?

Naruto smiled, "Alright, I'll leave in an hour." Naruto bowed and turned around to leave.

"Naruto," Hiruzen called, making the blond turn his body halfway to look at the old man.

"Let's do a training session when you get back, I want to see how good you've gotten."

"You got it, I'll blow that hat off your head, no worries," Naruto smirked, and left in a Shunshin.

* * *

Despite being told that it wasn't an ANBU mission, Naruto still clad himself in his ANBU uniform with the exception of the mask. Since the uniform was purchasable in almost every Shinobi store, it didn't matter, much if he wore it on this mission. The only thing making an ANBU official was his mask and tattoed emblem.

Pushing his sword into its sheath placed on the ANBU vest's back, Naruto reached for his mask, but then remembered that he didn't have to wear it for this mission. So he made a short, mental, victory dance, before grabbing a dark grey cloak with a hood and swinging it across his shoulders and buttoning its collar.

His reason for wearing this was simple... In the off-chance that he was found out during the spy session of his mission, he could somewhat escape without having to reveal his identity. Normally, some people could show their face and still make it away, but considering how recognizable his face was... It was very unlikely that nobody would put two and two together and figure out who he was.

Looking into his fridge, Naruto frowned heavily, _'I just bought all this food, and now I have to throw it out when I return… I should make a seal to make my food stay fresh for even longer…' _Naruto grunted, and closed his fridge as he grabbed a notepad on the dining table.

The idea he had wasn't half bad, so he settled for writing it down for now, and decided to work on it sometime after he got home again… He already had a foundation to work with, thanks to the standard preservation seal. Hopefully, this wouldn't take three months, Mikoto would kill him for staying away from them for that long… There's only so much leeway that his love for sealing will give him, and being distracted with a project for multiple months is well past that point, according to Mikoto-basan.

Maybe he should visit the compound and tell her in person? That way it couldn't get too bad since she would know what he was up to, after all. Then again, that would probably lead to her finding a way to distract him, since this seal isn't as important… She'd probably tell him to just eat over at the compound and forget the, clearly, unnecessary seal.

Chuckling at the thought Naruto closed the fridge and went out the front door, followed by shutting and locking it behind him. Walking down the stairs, he sighed and took a sharp turn toward the Uchiha compound in the distance. He wanted to at least tell them about his missions in person so that they wouldn't have to think that he was avoiding them or something that outrageous.

Leaping over the market district, Naruto landed in front of the gates leading into the Uchiha compound. But he was raising a brow when an arm moved in front of him. Looking to his left, he stared at the gate guard that blocking his entrance to the compound.

"Is there a problem, Daiki?" Naruto asked calmly, as the large man going by the name of Daiki stared down at him with a colder glance than what he was used to.

Because of Naruto's frequent visits, he had gotten what most people would call a 'free pass' into the Uchiha clan's compound. He had never been stopped like this, so this was quite strange indeed.

"State your name and reasons for entering," Daiki responded in a monotone voice, making Naruto's brows raise further upon his forehead in great surprise.

"As, _you know_, my name is Naruto. Uzumaki Naruto in case that somehow also slipped your mind. You might want to get a doctor's appointment to check that head of yours if you somehow have forgotten it after all the years I've come here. And, I'm here to tell Mikoto-basan that I'm leaving for a long-term mission. So can I please enter now?" Naruto sighed, looking at the man as if he had lost his head.

Daiki snorted at the cocky comment, and said, "Show Mikoto-sama some respect and we might consider letting you in to talk with her."

Okay, now this was some _bullshit_, "Oh great Daiki-sama, please let me enter to speak with Mikoto-hime."

Before Naruto knew it or Daiki could burst out in anger, the blond was pushed through the gate from behind, "Stand down fellas, blondie is with me." Naruto immediately recognized the voice and stared at his daily pain in the ass. Shisui.

Shisui jogged up beside him with an amused gaze, "What was that about?"

"You tell me, I just wanted to enter so I could speak with you guys. But Daiki is being an even greater asshole than normal." Naruto said with a calculating look. Was every Uchiha acting odd these days?

Shisui snorted and intervened his fingers behind his head as he walked, "Well, he might have a stomach ache. He ate quite an exorbitant amount of food at the clan meeting, yesterday."

"Serves him right then, he's being an asshole."

"Touche."

The two walked in silence until they reached the main estate, when Shisui asked, "Yo, what did you want to tell us by the way?"

Naruto looked to his side and shrugged, "I have an extended political mission, that's all I can say for now. I might be gone for a month, maybe three months. It could be more or less, that depends on how long it takes for this matter to be solved."

"Considering it's a political matter, and you're a representative from Konoha, it shouldn't take too long. Konoha has a lot of pull in political matters, it should be a walk in the park." Shisui reassured and clapped the blond on the shoulder.

"Let's hope that true because I'm going to be bored out of my mind otherwise." Naruto groaned with an annoyed expression, with his lips pressed together to form a line.

Shaking his head Shisui reached for the doorknob, but stopped and smirked as he looked at Naruto, "Wanna bet on how far she is going to throw you?"

Naruto's eyebrow ticked at that, "Why would she throw me at all?"

Shisui shrugged with an innocent look, "Oh, maybe because you just got back and are already leaving for maybe three months?"

Naruto gulped, "Shit… Wait a minute then! I need to-"

But Shisui acted like a deaf person, and all but kicked the door open, "Mikoto-sama! I'm here, and I brought Naruto with me!"

"You did that on purpose…" Naruto grunted as the color slowly drained from his face, and Shisui just winked at him.

Stepping inside, Naruto and Shisui took their sandals off and spotted the raven-haired woman stepping around the corner in a cooking apron,

"Good, then I'll set a plate for one more for lunch." She smiled sweetly.

Shisui then turned and smirked at a sweating Naruto, who was adjusting the collar of his cloak uncomfortably, "Uhm, I can't stay. I'm just here to let you know that I'm going to leave on another mission today."

Mikoto frowned heavily at that, "But you just got back?"

"I'm afraid I have to, it's a political mission. I was selected for this mission." Naruto answered with a sigh.

"Shouldn't Itachi be with you then?" Mikoto asked confused, and Naruto just shook his head.

"Nah, it isn't ANBU." He replied, making her take a deep breath before sighing heavily.

"I guess it can't be helped then, when will you be back then?" She asked, hoping that it wouldn't be that long.

Naruto gulped and scratched the back of his head, "Uhm, Oji-san told me that the length can vary. It can take all the way from a month to three months."

"Three months?!" She yelled while getting all up in his face.

"Yeah, it's not that bad." Naruto nodded in response.

Stepping back, Mikoto crossed her arms and stared at the blond teen, "Hm, 'not that bad' Naruto, you just got home! You need to take a break."

"I will, I will. Just… When I get home." He chuckled dryly.

Mikoto gave an annoyed sigh, and dropped her arms back down as she walked into the kitchen, "Ugh… You men are hopeless creatures."

Shisui raised a brow at that, "Hold on, how is now on all of us men because blondie can't figure out how to take a break?"

"Because both him, Itachi and _you_, never, ever, take a break. You three are constantly either training, going on missions, or doing something else taxing. When was the last time you just sat down and read a book or took a simple walk?" She asked skeptically.

"But that's boring…" Shisui groaned out with a roll of his eyes.

"You just proved my point." The woman snorted and walked into the dining room with today's lunch.

Shisui gaped a little at that, trying to find a comeback when he was suddenly clapped on the back by Naruto, "Well done, moron."

"Who the hell are you calling a moron, you idiot?!" Shisui yelled, but his sudden retort had a completely different effect than what he had intended because Naruto had already disappeared from behind him, so Shisui had just yelled at himself through the mirror that was placed in the hallway.

Naruto in the meantime had entered the dining room and gave a short but respectful bow toward Fugaku who was seated at the end of the table. "Fugaku-san." He greeted, and the man nodded in return.

"Naruto-san." He responded back and waited for further words coming from the blond. The look on his face told him that there was something that he wanted to say, after all.

"Could I please speak with Itachi in private for a minute? I won't take too long, he should be seated with you within the next five minutes." Naruto requested, and the clan head just waved him off.

"Itachi is in the backyard with Sasuke; please hurry, as I intend to enjoy lunch with both my sons before it's cold," Fugaku said.

Naruto nodded and walked out through the glass sliding door leading toward the backyard which was already open, while still trying to figure out what he had done for Fugaku to act 'nicer' than he had been able to before.

Shaking his head free of those thoughts, Naruto gave a short wave as the raven-haired brother duo spotted him. "So, this is where you're hiding."

Itachi snorted, and rose a brow at him, "What's with the cloak?"

"I got a new mission, I'm leaving in just about ten minutes. I came by to say it in person, thought it was the least I could do." Naruto informed, and Itachi's brow remained on his forehead.

"Don't you mean _we_ got a mission? And if that's the case, I'm honestly baffled since I haven't received a word about it." Itachi responded with confusion evidently dripping from his monotone words.

Naruto shook his head with a small smirk, "Afraid not, it is a political matter, and for some odd reason I've been picked for it."

"I must say I'm surprised as well. You're the last person I would pick for a delicate political matter." Itachi said with a small smirk.

Naruto sweatdropped at that, "Geez, thanks for the trust."

Itachi shook his head, "On a serious note, I'm sure you'll be fine. How long will you be away from the village?"

"Most likely between one and three months," Naruto said back.

"And my mother is okay with that?" Itachi asked in shock.

Naruto chuckled bitterly, "I wouldn't say that…"

"Oh, the silent treatment?" Itachi then questioned.

"It's more like she left after she heard all that she needed to hear," Naruto said and shrugged.

Itachi gave a bitter laugh at that, and placed a hand on his hip while patting Naruto's shoulder with his remaining hand, "I suggest you come back with a souvenir."

"Why?" Naruto asked, his brows flying upon his forehead.

"Let me just say it in a simple way. This is the first phase of my mother starting to give you the silent treatment. So unless you want to live through phase two and three of her being mad at you, I suggest getting her a gift, as that might be an option for getting her into a good mood again." Itachi finished, and Naruto mentally noted this down as the largest amount of words he had ever heard Itachi say in one go.

"Alright, I'll keep that in mind while I'm there." Naruto nodded and crouched down to look at Sasuke.

"And I trust you'll keep your family safe while I'm away?" Naruto winked, making Sasuke nod with a big smile.

"Sure! Somebody's got to do it!" Sasuke said, making the two older teens chuckle a bit.

"I'll leave it to you then. See you guys." Naruto called as he turned around and started to leave while waving his hand.

"Don't start the next great war!" He then heard Shisui yell from the porch.

"I'm not the one yelling at his own mirror reflection!" Naruto yelled back and vanished in a Shunshin the instant he saw the enormous tickmark on Shisui's forehead appear, one that would predate a large outburst.

* * *

_With Itachi, several hours later…_

The raven-haired teen kept a blank face as he kneeled down in the middle of the room. He kept his eyes locked on the floor as he heard the Hokage speak.

"Alright, I've informed the people here about the crucial information that you needed to share in greater detail," Hiruzen said, and Itachi raised his head to look at the people that Hiruzen had selected as his advisors. More specifically it was his old teammates.

"This claim is quite outrageous, are you absolutely sure that the Uchiha clan is committed to this course of action?" Koharu asked, looking down at Itachi from her seat.

Itachi nodded briefly, "Hai, the Uchiha clan is very devoted to this cause already. It required no more than the first and second meeting to confirm this." While they had had a meeting the night where Naruto was there, they had also had one in the morning.

"This can prove bad for us and the village, what course of action should we take, Hiruzen?" Homura asked as he adjusted his glasses.

Hiruzen sighed and tried to respond, but Koharu beat him to it, "Isn't it obvious? If they are going to start a revolution and usurp our power, we should have no choice but to judge the Uchiha as traitors of Konoha!"

Hiruzen intervened, and said, "Please wait, Koharu, don't rush to such a decision just yet."

"However, Hiruzen, from what I can understand already, the Uchiha clan will not be dissuaded and since that is, in fact, the case, we have to take measures to avoid mayhem. That includes innocent children too." Danzo said, looking at Hiruzen with a narrowed eye.

"Don't such say such things in front of Itachi. Besides, a battle against the Uchiha would be far from an easy task, we must plan our strategy very carefully. " Hiruzen reminded, but Itachi was as blank as it had been when he had entered the room.

"We're in a race against time here. We are to strike them preemptively before they can make their first move. If we both join forces and use our respective black ops to launch a surprise attack on the Uchiha from behind, we'll end this fast." Danzo stated casually, making Hiruzen grimace.

"The Uchiha are comrades in arms. We need to watch them for a while longer than just hearing about two meetings Danzo. They might withdraw, and we can avoid unnecessary bloodshed. And anyhow, I would like to use words first before violence. I'll come up with a strategy." Hiruzen finished with Danzo and turned toward Itachi.

"Itachi, it doesn't have to be for long, but please, buy me as much time as you can." He finished, and Itachi nodded.

'_For the sake of the village, as well as the Uchiha, I will go beyond my limits.'_

* * *

Naruto sighed quietly as he finally reached his destination. It had been around a day, he had traveled at the fastest speeds that he could without getting _too_ exhausted. Landing on a branch, Naruto crouched down and looked over the grass fields of Kusagakure no Sato. After a moment, he reached into his cloak, grabbing a picture and holding it up to compare it with his surroundings.

And there were already bad signs that made him frown.

The house he was supposed to watch, he'd guess was located over five-hundred yards away from Kusa's main wooden wall surrounding their village. The house itself was practically in shambles. ´The only lighting in the house was candles, there were no signs of lamps or anything inside the house.

At least from what he could see from his position.

There was a well beside the house as well, suggesting that their water was coming from there and not the village's pipelines. The next thing he noticed was the shitty condition that the house was in. It was built with boulders and cement; definitely not the work of a professional. The roof was constructed from dried straws, with no hint of insulation underneath. The windows were cracked with some even being broken.

"How can they live like this? Are they really that poor?" Naruto wondered and moved down to a branch closer to the ground to be able to see everything with a better view.

From his new position, he could spot the five poorly hidden Shinobi that were watching the house. Judging from their masks and uniform, they were from Kusa's ANBU. He snorted at that. If this was their best attempt to hide, they weren't even worth calling ANBU.

Narrowing his eyes he started to wonder. Why would they watch this old house that was about to collapse? Did they know about the clan and status of the people within? If they did, it made no sense. How could they even allow themselves to let these poor souls live in this dangerous house? He didn't get it and _needed _answers.

Giving a silent groan, he defeated the urge to go down and poke the ANBU closest to him on the shoulder, and then throw a fist in his face when he got his attention. He was a spy on this mission, at least for now. But this situation, despite how horrible it was for the people he was supposed to watch, was good for him.

The house was located outside of Kusa's walls, so when he presented the evidence, he couldn't get held back by Kusa. If it had been inside their walls, they might've been able to accuse him of being a spy, but the house's position was perfect. It was simply located in the country. They couldn't even charge him for trespassing.

Shaking his head, he reached into his shuriken pouch and grabbed a camera that he had brought along. He momentarily wondered about how it wasn't scratched at all by his shuriken, but quickly shook his head again to clear his mind from these odd distractions.

He quietly started to take pictures of the house and its surroundings. The house's structure, lack of insulation, the cracked and broken windows, the lack of light and water coming from the village, and to connect it all to Kusa, he took pictures of all the hidden ANBU that he could, and even managed to get a picture of one facing toward his direction, next to the house. Thanks to that, it was possible to see the emblem of Kusa's shinobi scratched onto the top of his mask, as well as them being placed around the house of question.

He now basically had everything he needed except for a few things. He had detailed pictures of a bunch of the things wrong with the place that they lived at, and also an overall picture to link it to Kusa. Now all he needed was to wait for the more 'extreme' kind of abuse, which could take a while.

Naruto gave a yawn a few hours after. He had been sitting still on the branch for quite a while, and the ANBU from Kusa hadn't moved either. He was about to close his eyes for a nap when he heard the sound of a loud creaking door and looked down at the house.

Taking his camera up to his face again, he waited for the person to step outside the door so he could get a picture. But as his eyes spotted the person's features and face he almost dropped the camera.

His body was shaking, his lips quivering as his eyes found it hard to focus on anything else but _her_. As his breathing got heavier and faster, he placed a hand over his heart and thought to himself with a whimper.

'_No… She's supposed to be dead…'_

* * *

**The chapter is done, let me know what you think. **

**Why do you think Naruto blames himself for his family's death? Why are the Uchiha acting so bipolar? From the guards being rude, to Fugaku being nice? And what can Danzo be up to? Who do you think Naruto is watching, and why is he reacting the way he is? Let me know your theories!**

**A quick note from me; I'm going to continue my education from Wednesday onward, so the updates might become less frequent, but I'll try to make them longer to compensate for it.**

**Thanks for your time.**


	4. Karin and Akari Uzumaki

_**Chapter 4.**_

* * *

**Damn it's already been what, three or four months since the last update? I can't do much other than apologies right now, and I won't promise frequent updates anymore, because I'm probably not able to keep that promise. My sincerest apologies. I've been bust with a lot of shit, Corona hitting hard everywhere, and my time has really gone to other stuff, but yeah, a new chapter.**

**Pairing: Naruto x Uchiha Mikoto. **

**THIS WILL NOT BE A HAREM**

**Warning: The main character's age has been adjusted.**

* * *

_Outskirts of Kusagakure no Sato._

* * *

"K-Kaa-chan?" Naruto stuttered, his eyes fixated on the _red-haired_ woman walking out with a basket filled with what he would guess was laundry.

Holding up his hand to shield his vision from the sunlight, his eyes kept following her until he finally noticed it. Her hair was darker than Kushina's bright red, her eyes were red and this woman's hair had a little more 'spike' to it.

Naruto breathing got slower and slower as he stared at this individual. He smiled bitterly, as a lone tear fell from his eye. It wasn't her. This had to be the reason that Hiruzen had wanted him to do this. It was because the clan that was being mistreated was the Uzumaki clan.

Kneeling on the branch his smile turned into a frown. His mind had tricked him, and given him false hope. He had almost believed that Kushina wasn't dead, and standing right in front of him.

He had been ready to run to her, embrace her in a hug and tell her how sorry he was. But he had been robbed of all of that. The person in front of him wasn't his mom, no, but it was still a member of his clan. So despite everything, they were still family down the line.

Family. The word made Naruto narrow his eyes as he glared at the back of one of the ANBU watching her. How dare they treat his family with such disrespect? Letting them live in this house that was ready to collapse, invading their privacy, and everything else he had yet to see.

While fighting the urge to commit a full-on slaughter of the ANBU watching her, he noticed something that made his worry and confusion come back in full. On her arm… were several teeth marks. It covered her entire arm, all the way from the end of her short-sleeved shirt, and down to the start of her wrist. Some of the markings were even overlapping.

Grabbing his camera again, he took a picture of it and was about to place it back in his shuriken pouch, when he looked at the clothes she was wearing, well, if you could call what she was wearing clothes. The things she wore, Naruto would call white and red rags.

Taking another picture of that, Naruto heard the door creak again, Raising a brow, he looked at the door and realized he had momentarily forgotten one important thing. It was a mom _and_ a daughter that he was supposed to watch.

So as the door opened, Naruto watched with great curiosity as a small child, no older than Sasuke, stepping outside of the house. He smiled a bit, because of the huge smile she wore as she ran up to her mom.

He chuckled a bit at the sight. Her mother was trying to do laundry in the basket that she had pulled up from the well, but the child was running around and distracting her. So, she was an energy bomb, a typical Uzumaki.

Taking a picture of the duo, Naruto finally stuffed the camera back into his pouch and decided just to watch for a while. He needed to keep his distance, for now, no matter how much he wanted to go down and greet them, but with the ANBU watching, he couldn't take the chance.

He sighed a bit, he also wanted to just go down there and take them with him to the leaf. But he didn't have enough evidence yet. What he had gathered was just evidence of being poor, not the evidence on the abusive treatment, he needed. The only thing suspicious was the ANBU watching. What made them so special, aside from being Uzumaki, that required an entire squad of ANBU there? He would have to find out.

But they couldn't be there forever, there had to be an opening when they were being replaced by another squad. Maybe by then, he could go down there and greet them? He grunted at that, it might not be the best idea to do. He could also just place some supplies on their doorstep, knock the door, and then Shunshin away? With how starved they looked, it couldn't hurt.

So he made his decision, and sat back against the trunk of the tree but kept his eyes glued onto the duo while keeping his guard up. It wouldn't be so good if the ANBU managed to spot him and get to him. Would it?

* * *

As midnight came around, Naruto opened his eyes with clear irritation. Pained screams from wounded soldiers had kept him awake the entire night. He had finally fallen asleep around a few hours ago, and now in the middle of the night, he was once again awake because some weak plastic soldier was too much of a wimp.

"If that sissy asshole doesn't shut the hell up soon, I'm going to blow up the hospital," Naruto muttered to himself with a twitching eyebrow.

Yawning a bit, as he felt nature calling, Naruto swung himself off the branch he had been napping on and landed on the ground without a sound. _'Alright, I'll just leave for two minutes, and have a clone watch them in my place and then… What's that?' _Naruto thought to himself as he saw three Jounin coming from the village, and toward the Uzumaki's 'house'.

"What could they be doing here in the middle of the night?" Naruto whispered to himself and got ready to capture any potential evidence he needed.

The Jounin at the front upon reaching the house proceeded to _kick_ the door open. The remaining two proceeded to enter the house, and not even five minutes later, the same red-haired woman from earlier was _pushed_ out of her own house.

"What the hell are they doing to her?" Naruto growled with narrowed eyes. He wanted to commit a massacre right now, but that wouldn't help anyone.

"Kaa-chan!"

The cry of a child brought him back to reality, and he shook his head and proceeded to get the remaining evidence he needed. He watched as the small girl he had been observing with her mother earlier ran out of the house with tears in her eyes.

The girl didn't manage to get within ten feet of her mom before she was ruthlessly slapped to the ground. "Get back into your house you little shit. This whore has work to do." One of them snorted.

As her mother saw this, she forced herself out of the grip the two other Jounin had, had on her, and rushed to her crying kid on the ground, but before she had any time to comfort her, she was grabbed and pulled by the hair, and thrown back to the two Jounin again that too grabbed her by the hair, and held her in place.

"You know the deal. Unless you want to see your daughter as the primary womb for your clan, you're going to cooperate with no objection. That was the deal from Ryujin-sama." The one that had slapped her daughter said.

Naruto grabbed the hilt of his sword angrily, but grit his teeth and let go with heavy motions.

Taking a few deep breaths, before stating to himself, _'Alright, mission first, then I beat the shit out of them. I do need to know how much to make them suffer, after all... It wouldn't do to go too easy on them.' _Naruto growled to himself while feeling the intensity of his rapidly building bloodlust.

When the situation had proceeded to one of the three Jounin locking the young girl inside the house, and all three of them walking away with the mother, Naruto decided it was almost time. Only one thing to figure out now. What were they doing with her?

Before doing anything else, he quickly made a clone, giving it the very important task of dispatching the Anbu and looking after the little girl, as he narrowed his eyes towards the Jounin who were making their way towards the village proper. One way or another, his mission was ending today.

Quickly, he began to follow the small group as they made their way into the village, and towards the annoyingly loud hospital, noting how the mother looked more and more resigned to her fate the closer they got before they finally arrived.

Upon arrival, the Jounin that was dragging her then proceeded to physically throw her into one of the rooms, wherefrom what he could see, dozens of injured shinobi began to line up. Making sure to completely remove his presence, he moved close enough to view what was happening, and he found himself thanking Itachi. If it wasn't for him, he wouldn't have had enough patience to continue…

Anger bubbled within, as his… _family member_ was used as a chew toy for the various shinobi that had lined themselves outside. And from what he could sense, every bite from the injured _consumed_ a notable amount of chakra from her. Slowly, if only to keep his anger at bay, he raised the camera, making sure to take enough pictures of the cannibals, but that brought a new question to mind. There were a significant number of injured, but Kusa wasn't at war. What was going on?

Once he had enough evidence, he quietly made his way into the hospital, specifically looking for the hospital records. There had to be something going on, for Kusa to have more injured shinobi than even Konoha did on a busy day. And given how they had _her_ treat the ninja, it was likely a common occurrence. If his fears were right, then this should be the nail in the coffin to deal with Kusa and ultimately protect his newfound _family._

Surprisingly enough, despite the dozens of shinobi that were present at the hospital, security was scarce, scarily so. Almost like this was a common occurrence, and that nothing substantial was going on… Hell, the few med-nins that he found were lazing about, almost like they lacked any patients to treat…

Finally, after traversing through the hospital for a few minutes, he had found the room which held the medical records. There was only a single staff member around, and they were making their way towards the break room… This didn't make sense. If there were so many patients to treat, shouldn't they be making records of the various problems that the patients have and why they came in?

Steeling his resolve, just in case his fears were indeed true, he opened the cabinet that held the records for today, and he was left dumbfounded. 53 files were recorded, all within an hour of his target's arrival. And 53 cases of training-related injuries… Not a single injury was from a mission, or anything critical. No. If anything, most of these injuries were obtained, with the knowledge that they would be injured in the first place. From purposefully poisoning themselves beyond how much they can normally handle, to training in semi-lethal sparring matches. This… just didn't make sense.

Gritting his teeth with a snarl escaping his lips, as he roughly opened his cloak, pushing the documents inside as he quickly crossed his fingers, making a clone that quickly disguised itself to go look after the Uzumaki mother while he made his way out of the hospital undetected.

Making his way to the office of the leader in Kusagakure, Naruto's appearance got a large number of curious stares due to his almost obvious lineage, and the Konoha forehead protector that was hanging from his belt.

Standing at the front of the quite small building, compared to the Hokage tower, that the leader apparently worked in, Naruto walked up to two guards that immediately stopped him. "I am here on behalf of Konohagakure, and got a message for your leader that cannot wait."

"You're here with no words from your Hokage, you are trespassing on Kusa ground pal." The first guard sneered, making Naruto's expression turn into a large scowl.

"Either you tell him that I'm here, or I'll simply walk in there myself. You should be willing to let an ambassador from the greatest nation enter, consequences could come if you don't." Naruto threatened, sending a glare at the guard.

"Little brat, tsk, fine." The man grunted, obviously not okay with this kind of treatment.

"That's what I thought." Naruto clicked his tongue as he walked past the two guards, noticing they followed him all the way up to the door, the leader supposedly was behind.

Opening the door without as much as knocking, Naruto waltzed right into the office, staring at the middle-aged man that lifted his head from some paperwork laying across his wooden desk.

The man narrowed his eyes at Naruto, "And who are you supposed to be, how did you get past security?"

Pulling all the files and evidence he had gathered, Naruto slammed them on the man's desk, as the two guards behind him moved dangerously close. "You are housing two members of the Uzumaki clan in this village, and I on behalf of Konoha was sent here to investigate rumors about their mistreatment," Naruto responded, getting straight to the point.

"This is an absurd claim. Guards arrest this man immediately, he is trespassing on this village's soil, and making dangerous political assumptions! Konoha will have to pay dearly for such treatment of our village." The man said in a low dangerous voice, and the two guards moved in to grab ahold of the blond.

Channeling a bit of his chakra, causing the tension in the air to get thick and heavy, Naruto glared out of the corner of his eyes at the guards, that seemingly stopped in place as he displayed a dangerous warning, "Mistreatment, inhuman living situation, medical experimentation, forceful abduction from home by your shinobi, this woman is in a life-threatening danger in this village. Along with her daughter." Naruto finished, turning his head to face the man again.

The man showed off his gritted teeth as he looked over the obvious evidence, laying across his desk, while looking dangerously at the two guards, behind this intruder, that was stuck in their place.

"So I, _Uzumaki _Naruto, with the authority of Konoha, take these two into my custody and under my protection. If you have any further disclaim of this evidence being true, and any more words you feel that needs to be said, feel free to take it with Hiruzen-sama." Naruto said simply, eyeing the man as he grabbed the edges of his desk, seemingly cracking the wood under his fingers.

"Konoha has no right waltzing into this village making such assumptions, this is trespassing and could be seen as an act of terror or worse, war." Was the response Naruto got out of this.

"So, you'll deny the obvious and decide to play the political game with Konoha I see. Can you really afford to make such 'dangerous' acts toward the greatest of the five nations, the ally of Sunagakure no Sato, that's also one of the great nations?" Naruto asked calmly, his eyes still cold as ice.

"Ryujin-sama, let's call backup and put this freak behind bars." One of the guards that had gotten out of shock said, latching onto the blond's arm, as he stared dangerously at the blond.

"Let go of the ambassador, and go send word for the two Uzumaki…" Ryujin responded in a low tone, his hair hanging in front of his eyes, covering them as he stared downward at the desk.

The guards blinked in shock, "But, R-Ryujin-sama, he's an intruder-"

"You got an order!" The man said in a low but sharp tone, making the two guards flinch before moving out of the room while glaring at the blond Shinobi.

"What's your source of information?" The man asked as he and Naruto were alone in the room.

Naruto frowned, crossing his arms over his chest, "Unimportant."

"That's a big lie, you cannot waltz into here and make a mere assumption without any credible source of information," Ryujin responded coldly.

"I have no more words to say in this case, my mouth is sealed by Konoha, any further conversation will be done between you and Hiruzen-sama," Naruto responded simply.

Ryujin chuckled, lifting his head to stare into Naruto's eyes. "Heh, so just as I suspected, you are just one of Konoha's lapdogs, barking without biting on their command."

"You should be careful speaking about Konoha like that in my company, your situation will be worse in any political matter now. We house the Yamanaka clan, a clan able to dig these memories out in any matter that may come, do you think it will suit you well for this to be taken into consideration during the process?" Naruto responded easily.

"You got a lot of nerve…." Ryujin sneered, his teeth grit tightly together as his fist clenched with anger, turning his knuckles white.

But before anything else could be said, the door behind them opened with low creaking noises. Turning his head around, Naruto's heart clenched painfully in his chest as he watched the tired and exhausted Uzumaki mother with black marks under her eyes walked in slowly, holding her daughter's hand as the small girl hid behind her mother's leg.

"R-Ryujin-sama, you called for us?" The mother stuttered in barely a whisper, fiddling uncomfortably on her feet.

Sighing with an annoyed expression, the leader of Kusa snarled out, "Yes, Akari… You got a visitor."

Deciding that is his cue to speak Naruto turned around with a small smile, "Hey there Akari-san, I'm an ambassador from Konohagakure no Sato, a former ally of your fallen country. I'm here to take you into Konoha's custody."

"B-But, why? Have we done a crime against you?" She asked confused, squeezing her daughter's hand as the young girl looked at this blond man's appearance with curiosity.

Chuckling Naruto crouched down, completely ignoring the leader of Kusa and his two guards that had also returned, as he looked at the girl hiding behind her mother's leg. "No, no, nothing of the sorts. We got knowledge of you being mistreated here, and with you being Uzumaki we cannot allow that. Former allies or not, you've always been a people close to us, so I'm here to take you somewhere safer."

"Shinobi-san, we are citizens of Kusa…"

"Yes, I'm well aware of that fact, but with the mistreatment, Ryujin-san has no choice to but to allow me to you to Konoha, unless he wants to be utterly demolished in a political matter that won't be good on any parts," Naruto explained, making the mother look at him with surprise and disbelief.

"Kaa-chan? Who is this man?" Her daughter suddenly asked, seemingly not haven listened in on the conversation.

"This is…"

Naruto facepalmed and shook his head as he walked over and extended his hand, "How rude of me, my name is Uzumaki Naruto, Shinobi and ambassador of Konoha."

As Akari was just about to shake this young man's hand, her movement froze as she heard his name. Staring at this blond boy in disbelief, she opened her mouth, "U-Uzumaki?"

"Yes, I am, I know the hair color might be confusing and all but my father was blond, but my mother was indeed of the Uzumaki clan," Naruto explained kindly, his gaze shifting back to the woman's daughter.

"And who do we have here?" He asked softly, crouching down to extend his hand toward the girl.

Looking up at her mother, she asked permission to introduce herself to this man without saying a word, but her gaze was more than enough for Akari to understand.

"Go ahead, sweetie." Akari encouraged with a smile, her head still filled with utter surprise at realizing they weren't the last of her people.

Nodding slowly, the child extending her much smaller hand to the blond as they shook, "Hello mister, I'm Uzumaki Karin…"

"Karin, eh? That's a pretty name." Naruto responded, smiling kind and politely,

Blushing a bit out of embarrassment, Karin took her hand back and clutched to her mother's leg.

"This has gone on long enough! You were here to take these people with you, so if that was all, get out of my sight!" Ryujin roared out, slamming his fist onto the table startling Akari and scaring Karin.

"You should mind your tone, there is a child in the room…" Naruto snarled back, his eyes glowing with danger.

"I told you to get out."

"With pleasure. So, if the two of you want to come with me to Konoha, all you got to do is say the words." Naruto said, shifting his gaze turning back to the Uzumaki duo.

Looking at her daughter Akari noticed that the child was still looking at this blond boy with great interest before she eventually nodded. "Please take care of us Naruto-san."

"Very well then, we shall be on our way then. Got anything that you want to take with you back to Konoha?" Naruto asked.

Nodding her head, Akari scooped her daughter up into her arms, "Everything we have here is not of the best quality exactly, but it's all we got and we have no money to buy anything new..."

"I live in a very big house, my father was the Yondaime Hokage after all, so we got space if you want to come to live with me, I wouldn't mind having my family close after so long of being alone," Naruto responded politely

Widening her eyes with sorrow and hurt, Akari gazed at the young blond, "Alone? Where are your parents? I know the Yondaime Hokage died, but what about your mother?"

"Died along with dear old Tou-san I'm afraid, but it's okay." Naruto sighed, running a hand through his golden locks.

Nodding her head, unable to find anything to say Akashi smiled softly, "If it isn't too much trouble, we'd like to stay there until we can afford our own place. I'll help you as much as I can around the house and pay you as soon as I can."

"Excellent! You can stay for as long as you want, I got tons of space and I'm usually not home too much anyhow, so you'll have plenty of privacy, but no need for payment, your family, and this is exactly what family is for." Naruto smiled, walking over toward the door, motioning for the two to follow him, as the united family members left the office, the Uzumaki mother tearing slightly up.

* * *

**You might notice that the writing quality gets a bit worse in the last 1000 thousand words, but I wrote a bit of this a while back, so I'm sad to announce that my writing abilities are a bit rusty, but I'm doing my best to train back up. And hopefully, there won't be a few months to the next chapter is out… Again, I'm sorry.**


	5. Naruto vs Ryujin

_**Chapter 5.**_

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**Pairing: Naruto x Uchiha Mikoto. **

**THIS WILL NOT BE A HAREM**

**A/N: So sorry for the long wait. No excuse. I'm terribly sorry.**

**Remember to follow my Twitter for urgent news regarding stories! Name: Skairipa1337. Thank you.**

**Also, I don't feel like I'm too great at writing fights yet. You are warned. But hey, practice makes perfect.**

**Warning: The main character's age has been adjusted.**

* * *

_Outskirts of Kusa._

* * *

In the lands of Kusa, the three Uzumaki calmly traveled toward the border between Kusa and Hi no Kuni. The trip had been filled with small talk. Or it was rather Naruto constantly asking curious questions regarding Uzushio and the Uzumaki culture. Hours were slowly passing by as they made their way out of this hostile country. The journey was slow and _so far_ uneventful. They managed to get close to the border with no surprises. Yet.

Akari was more than happy to answer all the things she could. As they were in the middle of a conversation about how The Uzumaki had gotten such knowledge and interest in seals, they were suddenly interrupted by the third Uzumaki, the youngest member of the party. Karin.

Feeling a pull at the edge of his cloak, Naruto blinked and leaned forward to curiously stare at the young glasses-wearing girl that looked up at him with such an intense expression on her face. "Are you my... Aniki now?"

Naruto blinked a bit before his eyes widened and almost fell over. That word had a lot of meaning, especially to him and his past. It was unexpected that she would call him that, hence his sudden reaction of quietness and flabbergasted shock.

"Karin!-" Akari started with her eyes widening dangerously. A small blush on her cheeks from embarrassment due to her child's unpredictability.

After somewhat recovering, Naruto shrugged and chuckled much to Akari's confusion. "I guess I am." He responded calmly with a small smile, his finger busy scratching his cheek sheepishly as he looked slightly uncomfortable. The entire scene made Akari unable to hide a few giggles slipping loose of her lips as she watched the scene unfold.

"Look Kaa-chan! I got an Aniki too now!" Karin yelled with the usual excitement of a child. It was quite amazing really. The kid seemed to adapt to his presence quickly, but Akarion the other hand, despite being polite and friendly, was also obviously wary of him and on guard the entire time they had been walking.

Akari shook her head at the child's naivety and selfishness. As she opened her mouth to speak, she abruptly stopped herself as something felt wrong. "Naruto-san… something is coming from the direction of the village." She whispered, her voice breaking and her body shivering with horror. They had to be coming here to take her back. Why else would they have so many numbers with them?

Naruto's eyes widened before narrowing dangerously. The entire atmosphere around them changed and the blond stepped up in front of them as he looked in the direction of the village. "Akari-san." He calmly spoke as he started to feel the increasing number of chakra signatures heading their way at high speeds.

"Y-Yes?" She stuttered and pulled her child to her, looking at the back of the lone male Uzumaki present.

Sighing, Naruto reached up and grabbed the hilt of his blade sticking up from under his cloak and grasped it tightly, "Take Karin and run to the east. If you keep going east you'll get closer and closer to Hi no Kuni. Should I be unable to join you before you get to the border, tell them you're with Uzumaki Naruto returning from S-Rank political matters in Kusa. You shall be kept there in safe surroundings until your statements are either confirmed by myself or Hokage-sama."

"What about you? There's a lot of people coming this way…" Akari whispered the last part hurriedly, her arms clutching around Karin as the child looked beyond terrified. As if she too was realizing the danger ahead.

Naruto shook his head and sighs, to her it might seem like many, but to him, it wasn't quite that horrifying. Didn't stop him from getting pissed tough, "I'll be right behind you. Just run to the east. Quickly!"

"E-East?" Akari in the heat of the moment was unable to find her sense of direction, looking around slowly.

Naruto facepalmed slightly, and pointed into the sky, "See the sun? It's going down which means you run like hell in that direction!" He yelled at the top of his lungs and threw his hand toward the direction he meant while Akari felt like punching herself in the face. Nodding gratefully at him, she scooped her kid up in her arms and started running as fast as her weak and bruised body could carry her.

Naruto sighed and turned around again. He was about to reach back up for his sword when a presence leaped out of the woods and landed a few yards away from him. The person that had appeared made him scowl.

"Ryujin-dono, what do I owe the pleasure?" Naruto grunted sarcastically as the middle-aged man stood up with his black locks swaying around in the air.

While spitting on the ground between them, Ryujin reached down and placed a hand on a sword he was now carrying by his hip. "Cut the crap brat, where's the Uzumaki?" He demanded while grasping his hand firmly around the handle he started pulling the blade out of its sheath, revealing a double-edged longsword.

"This is a bad idea." Naruto sighed and looked around at the woods while keeping his guard up. Around five more men were hiding in the trees and bushes around them. Judging from the chakra level they were displaying at the current moment, he'd say there were about Chunin level in strength.

"Agreed, so hand the Uzumaki over and I'll make sure you'll get painlessly executed." Ryujin agreed with a shrug as he held his sword down along his side.

Naruto couldn't help but chuckle at that before his gaze turned completely serious with his eyes narrowed dangerously. His sharp blue piercing gaze digging into the mind and soul of the Kusa leader as he smirked devilishly, and almost sadistically. "No, what I mean is… The blood of your men will be on your hands, not mine."

Ryujin's eyes widened slightly as the words left the blond's mouth. As he was about to shout out an order for the attack, Naruto had vanished from view. Appearing midair while turning upside down with his head facing toward the ground, Naruto spun around while flipping kunai in between his fingers.

Closing his eyes, Naruto allowed his senses to take over as he took a deep breath, _'There are five opponents, and I have ten kunai. They are hiding, but it doesn't matter.' _Naruto snapped his eyes opens with a grin at that. Twisting and turning around he started throwing the kunai through the air all around him.

As the audible sound of metal clashing echoed throughout the forest, the first kunai Naruto had thrown was hit by the last ones he threw. Landing in a crouched position on the ground, Naruto mentally counted down from ten. As he got to one, three forms fell out of the trees and onto the ground, and the last two bodies of Ryujin's shinobi fell face forward out of the bushes with a kunai in their respective neck.

"Seems like I overestimated them. I thought they were Chunin level in strength but without the ability to even dodge or deflect a kunai I've changed my mind and now I'm more thinking academy student." Naruto smirked as the leader of Kusa gritted his teeth so tightly together that it felt like they would crack.

"You'll pay for that!" The man shouted in absolute blinding anger.

Naruto scoffed at that and pointed a finger toward him, "You were the one who attacked _me. _Their blood is on your hands, not mine."

"You stole my property!" Was the response he got, which made Naruto's usually bright blue eyes darken in color.

Scowling angrily, Naruto yelled, "They are not your property! They are living people with emotions and feelings! Not some emotionless property of your belonging!"

"That's rich coming from you! You're a shinobi! You're a weapon, a tool for your Kage!" Ryuujin retorted.

Snorting at that answer, Naruto crossed his arms over his chest, "I chose that. I decided I wanted to be a shinobi, I decided I wanted to be of use to my village and nation. They didn't decide to become residents of a martyr, Akari didn't choose to become a chew toy. _You _decided that in exchange for letting her survive."

"I've had enough of you…" The leader of Kusa shook his head as he swirled his blade around in his grasp before charging forward. Rearing his blade back, he sliced toward the blond that leaped back and pulled his blade out and swirled around in place, clashing his blade into Ryujin's.

"And I, _you_." Naruto hissed before pushing his blade into Ryujin's, creating a small space for him to charge into an offense.

Their blades clashed and slammed together over and over, sparks of the metals fighting each other flew around them as Naruto went low and swept at Ryujin's legs with his feet. The man noticed in time and backflipped out of the way while pushing his sword back into his sheath.

Ryujin landed a few yards back and flipped through hand seals. The blond was young but quite formidable with a sword. Even in the offense, he had a great defense. Even if he was confident he would win, he didn't have the time to clash with the brat. His property was getting away…

"**Hidden Grass Secret Technique: Grass Serpent!"**Ryujin called out as he slammed his palms together. The grass around him grew rapidly in size before swirling around each other to form a large serpent with fangs and yellow glowing eyes.

Naruto's eyes widened at the sight, mentally noting how much this technique seemed to remind him of what he had heard of the Shodaime Hokage's Mokuton. Cursing at himself for not having learned enough Katon ninjutsu to fight this, Naruto flipped through the hand seals to the only fire attack Itachi had managed to teach him so far.

'_Fire is not my primary element, but I hope it'll suffice!' _The blond groaned as he flipped into the air while spinning around. As he finished his last seal, ending on the tiger seal, he sweated as he saw the serpent flying up at him.

Begging mentally for this to be enough he took a deep breath, his chest swelling before he opened his mouth and mentally called, _**'Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu" **_Exhaling a large stream of fire that formed into a huge burning globe of fire that crashed right into the heads of the serpent nearing his airborne body.

The orb of fire crashed into the grass and immediately started to fight the hostile technique, burning away at the grass the embers and ashes of the grass started to fly around him. Much to his pleasure, his technique won the battle and continued down toward the leader of Kusa that had to leap into the air to dodge the blazing globe.

Deciding now was a good time to use something from more familiar to him, Naruto flipped through hand seals again as he threw his palms forward, **"Lightning Release: False Darkness!" **Gritting his teeth as he channeled his chakra into lightning that traveled across his palms, he shot it from his pams in shapes of dark blue spears roaring toward Ryujin.

Growling at the boy that was managing to push him, Ryujin thrust his palm toward a tree as his hand shot a long rope of intervened grass out of his palm toward to pull him out of harm's way.

"Such a damn peasant!" Ryujin roared in anger and frustration, pulling out what seemed to be endless kunai and shuriken he threw in the blond's direction.

Naruto scoffed at the sight and pulled his blade out again and started to easily deflect the incoming projectiles. As the last kunai was near him, he calculated it's flight route and stabbed the tip of his sword into the hole at the bottom of the handle and swirled around before he hurling the kunai back at the enemy.

Ryujin was slightly taken back by the move and felt his shoulder slit open by the kunai grazing through his clothes and skin. Grasping the cut tightly with his palm, his veins throbbed as he growled angrily.

Landing on the ground again, Naruto channeled lightning around his body to increase his strength and momentum drastically. Launching himself off the ground, he flew forward and first threw his sword at Ryujin who desperately grasped his own and dragged it out of the sheath to block the blade with sparks flying around the clashing metals.

Having created his intended opening, Naruto flew in close and grabbed the man's wrist to lock the blade in place, kneeing him in the gut and doubling him over. Then, Naruto quickly reared his fist into position to send a devastating uppercut into the man's chin, punching up into the man's face as hard as he could.

Using this moment to pull the sword out of the man's grasp, Naruto grabbed his own airborne blade and went for a dual-wielded cut down that Ryujin despite his disorientation managed to leap away from with blood leaking out of the corner of his mouth.

Deciding enough was enough, Ryujin flipped his hands into a half ram seal and mentally called out, _**'Hidden Grass Secret Technique: Poison Cloud Mist!' **_With his cheek swelling, he expelled a dark green mist flying at blinding speeds out of his mouth toward Naruto whose eyes widened as he brought his arms wielding the two blades to shield his face.

Coughing wildly Naruto leaped as fast as he could backward and out of the smoke cloud, coughing into his sleeve as he felt his vision start to blur, and his muscles starting to go numb. _'Shit…'_

"A cloud of poison mist just as toxic as the purple python's venom. You shouldn't even be standing, but I guess that it wasn't just the two females that were formidable Uzumaki!" Ryujin roared as he seemingly appeared out of nowhere and punched the blond in the side of his face, sending him crashing into the ground and rolling across the forest floor.

'_I couldn't even see him…' _Naruto cursed, mentally thanking his lineage and tenant for already fighting the poison before it became too much for him to even stand.

Noticing movement to his right, Naruto lifted his palm to block and incoming fist but gaped with salvia flying from his mouth as a kick was planted firmly in his gut. Unable to fly back from the grip on his fist, Naruto lifted his head to growl but was instead punched on top of his head and sent flying face-first into the ground.

Ryujin took this chance to grab a kunai and thrust down toward the blond's neck, but the sound of metal getting drawn made Naruto's eyes widen. Flying to his knees Naruto grabbed the man's wrist and used all the strength he could gather in his poisoned state to kick the side of the man's knee, bringing him down kneeling so he could punch him right in the nose, sending him falling backward with a yelp.

"You damn brat!" Ryujin roared and flew up to punch Naruto's face as hard as he could, sending the blond's head flying backward with blood dripping from the corner of his mouth. Not stopping there, Ryujin grabbed the blond's hair and tried to stab him in the throat with the kunai from before.

Naruto looked on with widened eyes as he brought up his hand to block it again, but the action was slightly too late. Instead of blocking the wrist, he blocked the blade with his palm. The blade stabbing right through it.

"Are you the dumbest person alive?" Ryujin taunted while Naruto just smirked tiredly while groaning in pain.

"**Lightning Release…" **Grasping his fingers as hard as he could around the kunai and Ryujin's hand, he groggily formed a hand seal with his free hand and started to emit as much lightning he could from his pierced hand, **"Electromagnetic Murder!" **The metal instantly directed it into Ryujin's hand and arm as Naruto held him in place as he proceeded to fry the man's flesh.

As he started to feel the effect of the poisons getting weaker and weaker until the point he barely noticed it, he mentally scowled and thanked the Kyuubi for breaking down the poison this fast. Pulling his palm backward to release it from the kunai, Naruto hissed in pain as blood run down his hand and arm from his wrist.

Ryujin who was too busy cradling his arm in pain didn't get time to notice Naruto swirling up to his feet and kicking him straight in the face, sending him propelling back into a tree.

Panting heavily Naruto waltzed over and grabbed his sword and placed it in its sheath before grabbing the hilt of Ryujin's sword that he had snatched from his grasp earlier. He could still feel the effect of the poisons in his systems, his vision and senses were getting better, but he still had a hard time feeling his legs.

Bringing up the sword he had stolen he panted harshly while starting to slowly walk over toward Ryujin whose arm was still smoking from the burns that had burnt his sleeve to a crisp along with his skin.

Spotting Naruto coming closer, he grabbed a kunai and charged forward, clashing his blade into the sword of the still poisoned Uzumaki who deflected it with the longsword.

Slamming the kunai out of the man's grasp, Naruto kicked him the gut and grabbed his hair before placing the tip of the blade at the man's throat. "It's over."

Ryujin looked on in horror as he felt the defeat. He had been bested by a brat. A Konoha lapdog. How could it have come to this? He didn't get more time to speculate before he was hit in the neck by the hilt of his own sword, instantly knocking him out cold.

Naruto panted heavily and looked at the blade, chuckling tiredly he sighed, "Spoils of war." He chuckled and reached down to grasp the sheath Ryujin had been wearing, placing it around his waist to carry the sword by his hip before fishing a roll of bandages out of his Shuriken pouch.

As he started to wrap his arm up, he sweatdropped a bit, "I guess Itachi was right. Going easy on your opponent is a bad thing. I almost lost."

* * *

"Kaa-chan? My feet hurt…" The young redhead whined softly up at her mom as the two Uzumaki ran side by side over one of the last bridges there were before they'd get to the Konoha outpost, their hands tightly clasped together.

Akari panted hard as she reached down to pull her kid up into her weakening grasp again. She hadn't felt the presence of the incoming enemy in a while, but at the same time… She hadn't felt Naruto's either.

"We're almost there…" Akari panted and panted hard as she stopped at the end of the bridge to catch her breath. She couldn't sense any danger, so she put her daughter down again to rest. Her face was getting pale, and her clothes drenched in sweat.

"K-Kaa-chan? Are you okay?" Karin asked worriedly as Akari smiled weakly and held onto the railing of the bridge, her vision starting to go slightly blurry.

Nodding tiredly Akari knees started to shake as she whispered through panting breaths, "Y-Yes dear, Kaa-chan is okay…" She barely got to finish before her eyes went dark and she slumped down against the bridge.

"KAA-CHAN!" Karin screamed horrified and slumped down beside her mom, shaking her limp form wildly with a terrified expression covering her face, tears welling up in the corners of her eyes before running down her cheeks.

Naruto who had been running all he could to catch up with the two got to the bridge about ten minutes later. Racing over the bridge as he ran as fast as he could, his legs still feeling wobbly from the poison, he almost fell as he noticed Akari's form collapsed on the bridge with her daughter over her.

Crouching down the blond panted heavily and got down beside Karin and asked hurriedly with wide eyes, "Karin! What happened?" He almost shouted as the small girl snapped her head up to look up and him as she hugged her mom's arm.

"A-Aniki? Kaa-chan just fell over! She… She said she was okay…" The girl sobbed as she clung to her.

Naruto mentally felt relieved. There hadn't been an attack. Now wasn't a time to rest though, leaning over her he quickly placed to fingers at her throat and exhaled slowly and relieved that there still was a pulse.

"Your mother is alive, but this doesn't look like normal fatigue. I'm no medic, but the marks on her arms are having an odd color too." Naruto whispered gently and held the woman's arm in his grasp. The bite marks were changing into a more purple or blue color.

"W-Will she be okay?" Karin stuttered and looked up at him with teary eyes.

Naruto bit his lip slightly and looked a bit guilty. He honestly didn't know. He didn't even dare to move her in this state, he couldn't tell if it was safe to move with her all the way to Konoha. And could Konoha even help with this? It wasn't a normal sick state, it looked like some intense chakra poisoning.

Lifting Akari into his arms, Naruto walked with her and Karin in tow under a tree to place her down in the shadows. Pulling his cloak off to reveal his sword sheath that had been covered, he rolled the piece of clothing together to form a makeshift pillow to place under her head. Reaching into his Shuriken pouch he pulled out some bandages and drenched them in some cold water and placed on her forehead.

After about ten minutes of waiting, Naruto looked on at the still out could mother with her daughter quietly running her small hand through her hair. Sighing softly to himself, Naruto walked out behind a tree and bit his thumb, placing his hand on the ground as he quietly mumbled, **"Summoning Jutsu."**

A small cloud of smoke popped into existence, and as a cleared a small orange toad appeared before him, "Yo bro, what's poppin'?"

"Tone it down Gamakichi, this is not the time for cheerfulness." Naruto sighed, making the small toad raise a brow at him amused.

"That's oddly dull of you."

Naruto shook his head and sighed again while handing the toad a small note, "Sorry for being so abrupt this time, but there is a life on the line here. Give this to the Hokage and tell him I'm requesting the location of _her_."

"Who is _her_?" Gamakichi asked confused.

Naruto shushed him and waved his hand, "Oji-san will know who I'm talking about, please, just be on your way."

"Fine, fine, but there better be snacks the next time!"

* * *

**So that's chapter 5 everyone. Sorry for the wait, but thanks for sticking here and reading. I'll try to update more frequently now that I'm on summer break starting next Friday. Did you like the fight between Ryujin and Naruto? As stated earlier this is one of my first tries writing a fight, so I hope it wasn't totally garbage.**

**Question of the chapter: Do you think Akari will be okay? Who is **_**her**_**? Let me know your theories.**


	6. The last Senju

_**Chapter 6.**_

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**Pairing: Naruto x Uchiha Mikoto. **

**THIS WILL ****NOT**** BE A HAREM**

**A/N: I post updates regarding the story on my Twitter. So, if you want to be prepared for when chapters come out, I'm always announcing how far I am with the stories in good time. My Twitter: Skairipa1337.**

**Warning: The main character's age has been adjusted.**

* * *

_The forests between Konoha and Kusa._

* * *

Dusk finally arrived as the woods darkened around them. Naruto had moved them to a more secure location and started a fire, along with creating about twenty clones to create a perimeter of security as they hid about the forest.

They would have to get out of there soon. It was only a matter of time before Ryujin would have the woods swept for their presence, and he needed _her_ location to treat Akari. While Naruto loved his village, the medical scene had taken a turn for the worse after the slug sannin, Senju Tsunade, had left the village in sorrow.

Opening his eyes that he had been resting for a few minutes, he looked down beside him to see Akari still out cold, looking somewhat better but still in a bad shape. Her fever was going down, but the bite marks on her arms kept getting a worse and worse appearance.

Looking down beside her, he smiled softly at the sight of Karin tucking her small form up against her mother's side, under her arm. Hearing a soft sound from the bushes in beside them, the blond looked over with a raised brow to see Gamakichi who had finally returned.

Standing up on his feet, Naruto quietly walked in between the bushes and crouched down in front of the toad, "What do you have for me, buddy?" He asked in a quiet tone to make sure he didn't wake the others up by accident.

Gamakichi held up a sealed scroll with a proud grin, "Location delivered as requested bro." He responded as Naruto nodded gratefully and grabbed the scroll.

Upon unsealing and rolling it out, he mentally sighed in relief. The location was near Yu no Kuni, the lands of hot springs, tourist attractions, and gambling. No wonder she was over there, the nightlife was probably quite entertaining. Yu no Kuni was about as far away as Konoha was from this location, and while she wasn't out of the country, she was in one of the few cities that had a lot of influences from its neighbor.

"Was that all bro?" Gamakichi yawned, making Naruto chuckle as he nodded gratefully toward his summon.

"Yes Gamakichi, thanks for the help." Naruto thanked him, but the toad just waved him off before disappearing in a cloud of smoke, returning back home.

Waltzing back into camp, Naruto sighed softly. He didn't want to stay in hostile territory longer than he needed to, but Akari was sick and every minute could be important. He had already waited longer than he wanted to.

Crouching down Naruto pulled the blade off his back and sealed it into a scroll that he tucked away into his Shuriken pouch. He'd have to carry them both, and the sword would be in the way.

Gently shaking Karin's shoulder, he smiled apologetically at her as he held a finger up to his mouth, signaling her to be quiet.

Karin yawned as she sat up tiredly, looking confused up at the blond Uzumaki who was putting the fire out, "A-Aniki it's still dark…"

"I know, I'm sorry. I've gotten the location I need, and I don't wanna waste any more time. We'll travel by night." Naruto explained softly and turned around with his back toward her, signaling for her to get on.

Karin blushed slightly and looked a bit uncertain. After taking a deep breath she swung her smaller arms around the blond's neck and climbed onto his back, holding her body in place by wrapping her legs around onto his stomach.

"Comfortable?" Naruto asked quietly as he crouched down beside Akari and started to seal away his cloak that he had been letting her borrow as a pillow.

"No…" Karin pouted at him.

"Yeah, yeah, I know…" Naruto chuckled a bit amused before scooping Akari up in his arms again. The woman was so light that it really made him quite uncomfortable. She needed a proper meal soon.

Time was ticking, they had to leave now. "Hang on tight Karin, it's going to be a long trip," Naruto warned before jumping off the ground and into the woods, using the branches of the trees to increase his momentum as they disappeared into the night, the clones he had created traveling along with them in the shadows, guarding them against any attack that could come.

* * *

As the sunrise started to show, Naruto started to slow down as the noise of a city started to get closer to his ears. Landing on the last branch of the forest, he started to look over his destination. A gambling hub for travelers going to and from between the Hi no Kuni and Yu no Kuni.

The village was indeed a nice sight. It was filled with high-class luxury gambling halls and hotels. Placing Akari down for a second on the branch, he heard Karin yawn softly on his shoulder with her eyes opening and closing from sleepiness.

Reaching into his pocket, he looked at the address that the Hokage had gotten him. Luckily for him, he had been here before on a mission and had stayed at the exact same address, to, you know, practice his luck at gambling while he had some time to kill. Sighing, he pocketed the note again and lifted the woman up again before using the shunshin to get there faster whilst avoiding prying eyes.

Landing at the front entrance, Naruto sneaked in past the lady at the front desk and started to slowly make his way up the stairs. Luckily for him, there was no one in the hallway to give him funny looks. Slowly walking down the hallway, looking at all the numbers on the doors, he got to the end and finally got the number he was looking for.

"B213" He whispered and crouched down to let Karin get off his back, which she hurriedly did. Yawning loudly she stretched with a sleepy look, black bags under her eyes as she could barely keep herself awake.

"Can you knock for me?" Naruto asked with a smile, to which Karin just nodded without saying a word before knocking a few times on the door as they heard shifting on the other side of the door.

A loud yell of frustration was heard from within the room, making Karin seek out a hiding spot behind Naruto's legs. Naruto sweatdropped at that and watched the door with interest.

"I swear to god I'll skin alive whoever dares wake me up so early in the morning!" Came a loud roar from within, as the door was flung open to reveal a fair-skinned woman with brown eyes and straight blonde hair. She was an above-average height and had noticeably large breasts. She stopped at the door's opening for a moment and narrowed her eyes before smirking with a small grin.

Without saying a word to him she left the door open and walked back in, "Shizune! Blondie is here! And he is carrying a woman with him." She shouted without a care in the world.

"What're you talking about Tsunade-sama?" Came a tired groan from within a few seconds after.

Naruto sweatdropped more at that and heard more footsteps coming as a teen a bit taller than him with shoulder-length black hair, and onyx eyes came into the doorframe, "Naruto-kun! What a pleasant surprise, what do we owe the pleasure? And, umm… Why are you carrying a redheaded woman?"

Naruto frowned at that and motioned with his head down at the kid behind his legs. Shizune looked down curiously and her eyes widened at the sight of a young redheaded girl hiding behind the blond's legs.

"I need your assistance. This woman is Akari Uzumaki, and this young one is Karin Uzumaki, her daughter. I was on a mission to Kusa to retrieve these two from an abusive environment, but Akari passed out and have been out cold for what I would guess is ten to twelve hours. It looks serious, and I don't think Konoha's hospitals have what it takes so I came here. Please help me." Naruto whispered, looking into the older girl's eyes with a rare pleading look.

Shizune opened her mouth to answer when the slug sannin yelled from within the room, "Bring her in here and lay her on the bed and I'll take a look, but you know the deal blondie!"

Naruto smiled with relief and hurriedly got inside with Karin in tow. Getting to the bed, Naruto laid Akari down and placed a pillow under her head.

Tsunade yawned and stretched with a groan as she spotted the kind behind Naruto's legs, "Since when did you become a dad?"

Naruto started coughing wildly as he choked on his own spit, "N-No! As I said to Shizune-chan, this is Karin Uzumaki, she is the daughter of Akari here." Naruto said as he pointed between the two female Uzumakis with his index finger.

"Calm down gaki, I'm just teasing you." Tsunade roared with laughter as she walked over to the woman on the bed. She was hiding her interest with humor, but she had been willing to help ever since he mentioned who he had with him.

It was no secret that her grandmother was Mito Uzumaki, and she had been friendly with Kushina Uzumaki before she passed. She had thought Naruto was the only one left, but here he was, dragging two more to her doorstep.

"Shizune, take a look at the girl. If she is from the same place she might be sick too," Tsunade ordered, and Shizune quickly nodded and moved toward the young girl who kept hiding behind the blond.

Naruto patted the top of her head, slightly startling her as she looked up at him, "It's okay Karin, these people are friends. Tsunade over there has Uzumaki blood too, her grandmother was an Uzumaki. You can trust them, they'll make your mother better in no time."

Karin still uncertain slowly made her way out from her hiding place, looking up at the dark-haired woman who slowly extended a hand down to her, which she looked up at Naruto before grabbing.

"We'll do what we can, but in the meantime, you're going to take a shower blondie. You stink." Tsunade snorted while pulling Akari's sleeves up with a horrified look. Those marks on her arms were beyond disgusting to look at. Where had Naruto found her again?

Naruto pouted at that and started to walk toward the bathroom, "Yeah, yeah, you try fighting the leader of Kusa without starting to sweat."

As he was walking past Shizune who had placed Karin on a chair, the older girl looked down at his arm that was swaying by his side as he walked. Standing up she grabbed his wrist making him look at her funnily.

"What?" He asked confused as she pulled the hand covered in bloody bandages up to her face.

"You're injured." She states simply and starts to unroll poorly done bandage off his hand to reveal a completely healed palm. "But there was so much blood…" She notes with a beyond confused expression.

"Come on now, you know what I house and who I am, the hole was gone hours ago. I just didn't have time to remove the bandage because I was on my way here," Naruto smirked a bit at that as Shizune huffed and threw the bandage into the trashcan.

"I'm still going to have you go through a check-up when you're done showering," Shizune said with a small pout as she crouched down before Karin again.

Naruto couldn't help but sweatdrop again, waving her off as he entered the bathroom and started to unseal some fresh clothes and seal away his dirty ones. Turning on the hot water, he sighed and stepped into the shower. Washing away the blood, dirt, and sweat from the day before.

* * *

After wiping his face dry with a towel, Naruto threw it up on a rack in the bathroom before starting to get dressed. Pulling on his clothes slowly, Naruto yawned a bit before finally putting his ANBU armor back in place, feeling his sore body everywhere. " Great job moron, you really shouldn't have gone easy on him…" Naruto mutters, but mostly to himself as he opens the door into the hotel room, watching Tsunade busy working on Akari with her palms glowing green around her arms.

"Took you long enough, had a _fun_ time with yourself in the shower?" Tsunade teased with a smirk, making Naruto's cheeks turn light pink as he huffed at her. Shizune on the other hand almost choked on her own salvia, her cheeks rosy red as Karin looked beyond confused at them.

"Don't be ridiculous…" Naruto muttered with an embarrassed look. Glancing over at Akari, Naruto frowned a bit as he looked over at Tsunade expectantly.

Tsunade sighed a bit at his glance as her hands stopped glowing green, and rested her palms on her thighs, "She was suffering from a severe case of chakra exhaustion, the marks on her arms being the source of the infection. She had been exposed to far too many chakra natures, may I ask what the reason behind these marks are?"

"People heal from biting her." Naruto stated simply with a dark look before shaking it off his face, "Will she be okay?" He then asked, Karin also looking at the blond woman as Shizune finished her checkup on the girl.

Tsunade gave a soft smile and nodded, "She will be, but her body has been fighting to survive for a long time. It's a miracle she hasn't passed out from chakra poisoning months ago. If you hadn't brought her when you did, she could have died in a few days, but as it seems now, she will, with enough rest and following checkups, be okay. I don't know when she will wake up, though I'm assuming a few days."

Naruto sighed with relief and slumped down in a chair as he ran a hand through his damp hair, "Thank god. So, I guess this means we have a lot of time to kill."

"You look tired gaki, go relax at the hot springs on the other side of the border. They are quite famous for a reason. We'll look after these two, right Shizune?" Tsunade sighed and shifted her gaze to her young apprentice who just nodded with a smile as she prepared a bed for the young tired Karin.

"Hai, Tsunade-sama. You can rest assured that these are in safe hands." Shizune quickly agreed as Naruto sighed, deciding that his armor wasn't needed anyway as he started to pull off his forearm guards and ANBU vest to lay in the corner.

"But remember our deal gaki, this isn't free." Tsunade reminded him with a smirk. Naruto just sighed at that and waved her off, knowing what she meant.

Without saying another word to her, Naruto waltzed over and crouched down in front of Karin as he carefully placed a hand in her hair to ruffle it gently, "I'm going to go out for a bit, you can rest here. Shizune-chan over there has prepared a bed for you so you can rest, and hopefully, your mom will be awake soon."

Karin could only nod sleepily. Her brain was not able to go much longer before she would pass out on the floor.

Naruto smiled softly at the girl and picked her up to gently place her under the covers of the bed, pushing a pillow under her head as he tucked her in, "Comfortable?" He asked and stood tall again.

"Y-Yeah… When will you be back, Aniki?" She asked sleepily, making the two older women that were awake in the room chuckle a bit. When did he say he saved them? She already called him Aniki.

Ruffling her hair briefly he sighed, "In a few hours, I should be back by the time you wake up." He whispered and pulled the blanket up to cover her form.

"Hai…" She mumbled tiredly as she started to doze off. The sound of light snoring following soon after.

Naruto sighed again and walked over to exit the hotel room after that, leaving the safety of the two Uzumaki in Tsunade and Shizune's hands.

* * *

**Two hours later - Yu no Kuni.**

* * *

Naruto was waltzing through the busy streets of Yu no Kuni. The hot springs had been nice, but he felt like it had been overexaggerated when people told him that it was a legendary place. Yeah, maybe it was nice and relaxing, but it didn't feel any different than taking a dip in the Konoha hot springs. Well, one exception being the possible lurking of his godfather Jiraiya.

Sighing he walked down a few stairs and found himself at a beach. He had only seen the actual ocean a few times, most of his missions didn't really go no near it, but when he could he would stop by to enjoy the sight. That reminded him of an embarrassing moment in his life.

Mikoto had been telling him and Itachi about how much she wanted to see the actual ocean and go to the beach. They had started this talk when he and Itachi had returned from a mission near Mizu no Kuni, but that wasn't the embarrassing part. No. Mikoto had to go as far as to tell them in great detail that she had to live with skinny dipping in the Naka River instead.

And as a teenager, it wasn't hard to figure out what kind of images he got in his head. As the thoughts and images started to creep up in his mind again, he started gaining a pink blush as the image of a topless Uchiha Mikoto in the water appeared in his mind before he punched himself in the nose to make it disappear.

"Son of a bitch!" He cursed and grabbed his nose. Well, at least the images were gone now. He really had to kick Kakashi and Jiraiya's asses for showing him the _great _world of Icha Icha Paradise. Mikoto would surely kill him... and them too if she knew.

Speaking of Mikoto…

* * *

"_And my mother is okay with that?" Itachi asked in shock._

_Naruto chuckled bitterly, "I wouldn't say that…"_

"_Oh, the silent treatment?" Itachi then questioned._

"_It's more like she left after she heard all that she needed to hear," Naruto said and shrugged._

_Itachi gave a bitter laugh at that, and placed a hand on his hip while patting Naruto's shoulder with his remaining hand, "I suggest you come back with a souvenir."_

"_Why?" Naruto asked, his brows flying upon his forehead._

"_Let me just say it in a simple way. This is the first phase of my mother starting to give you the silent treatment. So unless you want to live through phase two and three of her being mad at you, I suggest getting her a gift, as that might be an option for getting her into a good mood again." Itachi finished, and Naruto mentally noted this down as the largest amount of words he had ever heard Itachi say in one go._

"_Alright, I'll keep that in mind while I'm there." _

* * *

"I'm dead…" Naruto muttered to himself with a sweatdrop. He had totally forgotten about that while being in Kusa.

Getting an idea Naruto looked around him and thought with a small hum, "If she really wants to see the beach, I could bring it to her. No, that wouldn't work. I doubt I would have enough scrolls to seal the sand and water. And where would I put it? Ahhh…" He groaned in frustration.

"You seem troubled young man." An elderly voice called from beside him.

Raising a brow he let go of his hair that he had been pulling out in frustration and turned around to face a seemingly buff old man who was looking at him curiously. "Yeah, I guess you could say so."

"I couldn't help but overhear your conversation with yourself, seems like you're in the dog house." He joked lightly with a dry chuckle, making Naruto sweatdrop.

Shrugging slightly, the blond ran a hand through his golden locks, "I guess you could say so, I have someone at home that is mad at me for taking another job so quickly after getting home."

"It means she cares, overworking yourself is bad for your health. Tell me about it, I've been married for long enough to know a few tricks to get out of the so-called dog house." The man kept chuckling as he sat down on a bench behind them.

Groaning in frustration, Naruto slumped down on a bench beside him and looked toward the ocean, "It was an important job, I can't tell you much sorry. She's mad I'm never home and taking so many jobs, and my friend told me that it would be in my greatest interest to essentially get her a souvenir."

"Quite the coincidence, I'm here for a job too. I've been building the bridges leading to and from the new hot springs. And you said she liked the beach? Why don't you bring her here then, and take her on a vacation?" The old man asked in a gruff tone.

Naruto seemed to think about that for a bit and shook his head, "It's a bit too far I'm afraid, and I need something a bit more meaningful I guess."

"Well if she like the idea of the ocean, then why not make something for her yourself? There's a bunch of seashells here, you could make a wristband or a necklace perhaps." He then asked curiously, poking a few of said seashells with the tip of his sandals.

Naruto blinked at that and reached down to pull a colorful seashell out of the sand, inspecting it between his fingers before smiling, "You know what, that sounds like a great idea."

"I know it is. When you have lived with the same woman for as long as I have, you start to realize that the handmade gifts beat anything that you could ever by in a store." The old man laughed a bit louder at that and rested back against the bench.

"So how long have you and our wife been married?" Naruto asked and looked toward the man curiously, fidgetting the seashell around in his palm.

The man sighed and looked a bit down into the sand at that, "My wife passed away some years ago now. A bit before my grandson was born actually."

"I'm sorry to hear it. I hope she died painlessly?" Naruto quietly asked.

The man quickly nodded and smiled, "She slept in. It might have been a bit early, but she had lived a long good life. I never actually go to know your name kid?"

"Oh, how rude of me. Uzumaki Naruto, at your service." Naruto chuckled as he extended his hand that was met by the older man's strong grip.

"Tazuna here kid. So, about this woman of yours. You going to take my advice?" Tazuna asked and Naruto nodded with a blush.

"She's not exactly my woman. She's my best friend's mom, and she is married." Naruto blushed and waved his hands around.

"Hooo, that's some serious homewrecking you got going on there kid. And at such an early age too!" Tazuna roared out laughing while clutching his stomach, the glasses on his face almost falling off.

Groaning Naruto slapped his forehead, "No, it's not like that. I basically grew up with her, she's my aunt figure if anything else. And you don't know my age."

"Tell that to the smile you had on your face when you picked up that seashell. And to me, you look young as hell." Tazuna couldn't help but tease as we wiped some tears out of his eyes.

"Whatever…" Naruto grunted with a twitching eyebrow.

Looking on the watch on his arm, Tazuna sighed and shook his head, "Looks like my break is almost over. It was nice meeting you kiddo, tell me, where you from by the way?"

"I'm from Konoha, Tazuna-san," Naruto responded politely, making Tazuna raise a brow at him before he jabbed his shoulder slightly.

"Konoha? I guess you are Shinobi then. You look way too fit for someone your age." Tazuna chuckled as he stood up from the bench with a stretch.

Naruto chuckled and stood up as well as he summoned a few sparks of lightning in his palm, "You got a good eye Tazuna-san."

"Pf, that's what it takes to be a master bridge builder!" Tazuna beamed with pride.

Naruto shook his head and pocketed the seashell while extending his hand toward the man again, "It was indeed nice meeting you Tazuna-san, thanks again for your advice. If you're ever in Konoha, just ask for me."

"I'll be sure to keep that in mind." Tazuna nodded and shook the blond's hand before turning around to leave.

Barely a few steps away, Tazuna turned his head and smirked at the blond boy, "Good luck with your homewrecking kid!"

"Oh, you got to be kidding me…"

* * *

**Konohagakure no Sato - Uchiha Compound.**

* * *

"Kaa-san, I think you should relax. That much stress isn't good for you." Itachi sweatdropped as he watched his mother furiously wash the dishes off with great velocity. The plates looked as if they'd break if she continued.

Mikoto dropped the plate back into the sink as she turned around to face her son, "If you want to get rid of my stress then go and get that blond idiot home!" She sighed and dropped her towel onto the kitchen counter.

Itachi blinked slightly at that and put his cup of tea down onto the table. Sasuke who had been watching flinched slightly. It had been like this for the past few days since Naruto had been deployed again.

Hell, Mikoto had even thrown a fit about going to the Hokage to tell him to let Naruto relax a bit instead of sending him on constant missions.

Itachi grunted and took another sip, "Naruto is ANBU like myself, it's part of the job description to be busy."

"Yes, I know that Itachi but you're at least home taking a break right now. He isn't. That Naruto never takes a break." She sighed sadly, turning around to start finishing the rest of the dishes.

Fugaku who had been listening in as well put down his papers and looked with a blank face, "Naruto is a grown-up in the eyes of the law, he'll be fine." He said in a monotone voice before raising his papers again.

"Oh, I'm sure you are more than thrilled that he is away." Mikoto spat at him, making Fugaku raise a brow as he lowered the papers yet again with narrowed eyes.

Itachi palmed his face and stood up, motioning for Sasuke to follow him with the promise of some training. He didn't want Sasuke around for what seemed to be the start of yet another argument.

He quickly placed a few Shuriken in Sasuke's hands and told him to go throw them at the training dummies. Sasuke more than happy to agree, leaped down from the porch and down to the grass, and started to train. His Nii-san was finally helping him train again.

Itachi kept standing right next to the door into the kitchen and listened, as Fugaku mumbled out, "I'm not _thrilled_ that he is gone."

Mikoto snorted at that and crossed her arms under her chest, "You aren't? That little annoying smirk that seemed to grace your usual stoic frown told me otherwise when he mentioned how long he'd be away."

"Why does my mood always have to be associated with him?" Fugaku grunted back with a small scowl.

Mikoto threw her arms into the air and laughed, "Maybe because it looks like you want to paint rainbows on the compound walls whenever he's gone!"

'_Here they go again…'_

* * *

**Back in Yu no Kuni.**

* * *

Naruto who had been busy trying to put together a necklace of seashells sneezed and dropped a seashell at that. Someone had to be talking about him, he mused and kept fidgeting around with the shinobi wire, seashells and the senbon he had been using to poke holes in the seashells with.

After around an hour, he tied the wire together and held up the necklace he had made. He smiled at the result and quickly stored it away in a small seal for safekeeping. He'd be seriously dead, or painfully alive if something happened to it before he came back to Konoha.

Standing up and stretching his muscles, he yawned slightly. It had been a long night with little to no sleep. He hoped Akari and Karin were doing better. The former would hopefully wake up soon so that he could bring them back to Konoha.

As he stood up, he groaned and looked out over the water. His eyes widened at the sight before him. A woman skinny dipping in the waters with dark hair and pale skin, quite like a certain woman he knew.

As he watched her, her body seemed to change before his eyes. As she turned around, Naruto's eyes widened dangerously at the face he thought he was seeing. Why was she here? Blinking a few times he looked again, her entire exposed naked front toward him as she yelled.

"Throw the ball back, Naruto-kun!~" Almost choking on his own salvia he rubbed his eyes harshly before looking back down. She was gone. She had never been there. In her place was just a middle-aged dark-haired woman having fun with her boyfriend or husband.

"Oi! Konoha gaki! Stop peeking at my daughter!" He suddenly heard the yell of a now-familiar person. The old man from earlier.

Shaking his head clear with an immense blush, he went through the hand seals for the shunshin and disappeared in a swirl of leaves in a panic. He landed a few feet away from the hotel and yawned again as he snuck up to the hotel room again. Waltzing down to the door, he quickly opened it and walked in.

Karin was still sound asleep on the bed, and Akari seemed as passed out as he left her. Sighing slightly, he looked over to see Shizune and Tsunade mixing together some medicinal herbs, and quietly walked over.

Tsunade tilted her head in his direction and gave a quiet chuckle, "Never learned to knock gaki? What if we had been naked in here? Then you would have gotten an eyeful." She teased, making Naruto roll his eyes at the female Sannin.

Shizune giggled a bit at the bickering duo and grabbed the medicine they had been making, moving over to start smothering over the bite marks on Akari's arms.

Naruto took the seat that Shizune had been using and groaned as he looked at Tsunade who still gave him that teasing smirk, "Perhaps you wanted an eyeful? You could just have said so gaki."

The blond ANBU blushed heavily at that and smacked his forehead again, "Could you stop it?" Naruto groaned and propped his head on his hand, his elbow on the table as he watched Shizune treat Akari.

Tsunade faked a pout as she nudged him in the side with her elbow, "Don't be like that, aren't they big enough for you?"

Naruto almost choked on his own salvia as she said that and scowled at her, "There's a kid in the room!"

"So? She's sleeping." Tsunade shrugged, clearly enjoying the teasing of the blond boy.

Shizune snorted at her master and looked toward Naruto who looked beyond tired and bothered, "Why don't you take a nap Naruto? I'll wake you up when Karin is awake or if something is up."

Shrugging a bit Naruto grabbed his cloak and folded it together. Scooting down on a spot on the floor, he used his cloak as a pillow and slowly closed his eyes. Deciding that getting some rest might as well be a good idea.

"So no eyeful?"

"Tsunade-sama!"

"God damn it…"

* * *

**Two days later - Yu no Kuni.**

* * *

The next few days had been passing really slow. Shizune had brought Karin with her to the hot springs to try them out and also for shopping after new clothes.

So now, instead of wearing ragged clothing, Karin was wearing green pants paired with a red blouse. After a shower, haircut, and getting her glasses cleaned as well, she actually looked like how a girl her age should.

Naruto had been bored out of his mind most of the time. Sure, he had been looking after Karin and Akari the entire time, but there was only so much he could do while sitting on a chair day in and day out.

So this chilly Saturday night he was sitting by the table and writing in a scroll, working on some new seals. Shizune and Tsunade had rented a new room next door because Karin and Akari were now occupying their former beds.

Having his head propped on his palm as he wrote casually with his right hand before yawning slightly and looking over to the beds. Both of them were sleeping soundly, making him smile. Turning back to his current work in progress, he tried to come up with a way to make stored food stay fresh longer.

When he had returned last time he had stocked up his entire kitchen, and unless he was lucky, he had to throw it all out and buy another stocked up kitchen by the time he returned from here.

So, in order to limit any future loss of food, he figured that he could try and use seals to come up with a way to make the food stay edible for a while longer. So far it didn't look promising. He had scrapped around fifteen works so far and was now ripping up his sixteenth try in half with a quiet groan.

As he was pulling out another piece of paper he heard a soft grunt. The sound of the grunt being too deep to be from Karin, he quickly turned his head with wide eyes. To his pleasant surprise, Akari was sitting up in the bed.

"Akari-san!" He called quietly and rushed over to her, putting a hand on her back as she groaned and coughed, tapping her throat a bit with her finger.

Naruto blinked and smacked his forehead as he rushed out to fill a glass with water before returning, carefully handing her the glass filled with cool liquid. Akari smiled weakly up at him and started to lift the cup to let the cool liquid clear up her throat as Naruto supported her back and hand.

"Thank you…" She muttered lowly and looked around. As her eyes settled on Karin, she relaxed again. Her baby was safe. And so was she, apparently.

Naruto who had noticed her confused look sat down on the edge of the bed, "You passed out as you were running. You were having a severe case of chakra poisoning and infection, so I brought you to some friends. We are currently at the border between Hi no Kuni and Yu no Kuni."

"How did we get here?" She asked tiredly, her eyes half-lidded with dark bags under her eyes as she tried to stay awake.

Naruto chuckled softly and pointed a finger at himself, "I carried you two here."

"Wait, we were being chased… what happened? Are you unharmed? I couldn't sense you for a while…" She groggily mumbles, remembering the moments before she had collapsed on the bridge.

Naruto blushed a bit and nods at her, "I'm perfectly fine, don't worry about it. Ryujin got his ass kicked and we got here safely. Now just rest, it's the middle of the night."

"R-Ryujin? You fought him?" Akari mumbled with worry, her eyes looking him up and down to see any noticeable wound or damage to him.

"Yeah, but I won. Now sleep, we can talk in the morning." Naruto reassured and gently pushed on her shoulder to get her to lay down again. As Akari settled under the blankets, Naruto helped tuck her in and moved to turn the light off he had been writing seals under.

As he was about to flick the light switch he heard a soft, "Thank you." It made him smile, and he turned off the light a second later. Letting the darkness overtake the room as he settled down on the floor again, using his cloak as a pillow.

* * *

**Konohagakure no Sato**

* * *

Crouched down in a meeting before the Hokage and his three advisers, Shisui sighed as he lifted his head to look at the four figures before him, "...So as it stands, the coup is still in motion."

Hiruzen lowered his gaze with a saddened look, "I see." He answered in barely a whisper.

Danzo who had been listened in calmly so far leaned forward in his seat and turned his head toward Hiruzen, "Hiruzen, what's your plan now? If we remain idle for any longer, then it's going to be too late."

"Hm…" Hiruzen just hummed out, no response coming from his lips as he closed his eyes and seemed to be deep in thought.

Danzo took this as his chance to speak again, "Look. As the head of the village, sometimes it's necessary for you to make hard decisions. Isn't now the time to do just that?" Danzo finished, his eyes narrowing slightly toward Hiruzen.

"Please wait." The surprising sudden interference was from Shisui.

Hiruzen and the other advisors looked surprised at him as they raised their gazes to look at the young Uchiha prodigy.

As the attention was fully on him, Shisui lifted his head with determination in his eyes, "If I may, I think I have an alternative. There's a plan I'd like to try if you'll let me."

A new hope seemed to shine through in Hiruzen's eyes as he looked with at Shisui with wide eyes "A plan, you say?-" Hiruzen started but was never able to finish as Danzo moved in to interrupt.

With his eyes narrowed, Danzo butted in, and spoke through a seemingly stressed tone, "This is a waste of time. There are no other options right now."

Completely ignoring Danzo's protest, Hiruzen kept his focus sorely on Shisui as he spoke, "What is this plan, Shisui?"

What Shisui spoke next in an alarming calm tone made the entire room gasp with wide eyes in surprise.

"I will use my Mangekyo Sharingan on the clan."

* * *

**I apologize a lot for the wait. As my followers on Twitter know, I had planned on releasing this a few days ago now. Stuff came in and was in the way, my beta was unable to process the chapter on the intended date of release, and then the next day I was unable to write a single word. I managed to finish today though. **

**Question of the chapter: Do you think Shisui will be able to go through with the plan this time, or will Danzo stand in his way? Will Naruto make it in time to save his friend?**

**Well, let me know your theories until next time. Also, I hope you had fun reading about the slightly perverted content. **


	7. Retaliation from Kusa

_**Chapter 7 - Retaliation from Kusa.**_

* * *

**Pairing: Naruto x Uchiha Mikoto. **

**THIS WILL ****NOT**** BE A HAREM**

**As stated on my Twitter, something happened and had me unable to write for a bit. I apologize, this might be one of the only updates in a while, but I'll still try to write a new chapter before too long. As an apology, I made this my longest chapter yet.**

**A/N: I post updates regarding the story on my Twitter. So, if you want to be prepared for when chapters come out, I'm always announcing how far I am with the stories in good time. My Twitter: Skairipa1337.**

**Also, I want to make it clear that while Naruto has an obvious attraction toward Mikoto, they aren't romantic feelings. I doubt I need to explain this, but since some of you decided to argue with me in the DMs I feel like I have to make this statement. "Just because you find a girl attractive, doesn't have to mean you love her romantically." Can't we all agree on that? Good. The romance will grow later when the time is right.**

**Warning: The main character's age has been adjusted.**

* * *

_The border between Hi no Kuni and Yu no Kuni._

* * *

The first sound that greeted Naruto in the morning was the hectic crying of a very touched Karin. Opening his eyes, he sat up against the wall and cursed the pain in his neck. You would have thought Orochimaru had a play in this, but it was just his sleeping position for the past few days that was messing with him. It shouldn't be a surprise that sleeping on the ground and using a thin cloak as your pillow would end up in either back and/or neck pain.

Groggily blinking his eyes open, he couldn't, despite the pain in his neck, keep a smile off of his face as he watched the babbling and wailing child clinging to her mother that was sitting on the bed, whispering reassuring words in the ears of her child meanwhile stroking her red locks.

"Seems like you've saved my life yet again, Naruto-san." The soft words came from Akari, whose gaze had fixated on him when she had noticed he wasn't asleep anymore. That boy, a total stranger. Or well, maybe not anymore. Had gone out of his way for her and her daughter more than anyone in their life. He had gone as far as to save her life twice.

Naruto placed a hand over his mouth as he rested his back in against the wall, "Mah, don't mention it. I think it's written with bold letters in the family manual that you're supposed to take care of each other." Naruto lamely joked, yet it still managed to make the older woman smile with a soft giggle.

Karin's ear perked up at the sound of her 'Aniki' who had finally woken up. Bouncing out of her mother's lap, she ran across the floor, and to Akari's big surprise, her daughter swung her small arms around the tall blond's neck in the most suffocating hug a child shouldn't be able to give.

"Ano… Aniki… Can you dye your hair?" The question made Naruto raise a brow with a confused gaze. Dye his hair? Was there something wrong with his hair color?

Tilting his head slightly, he asked, "And why should I dye my hair? I like my hair."

Karin blushed slightly and ran back up to her mom, pointing at their heads, "Then you can look like us! Like an Uzumaki!"

Naruto's face dropped into the floor before sitting up again. _'Are all Uzumaki this energetic and weird in the morning, beside me?' _He thought with a large sweatdrop hanging off of his forehead.

Akari giggled at her child's behavior and placed a hand on her head, ruffling Karin's hair softly, "Go easy on Naruto-san dear, I think he's hair should stay blond. Rather charming to have a blond Uzumaki, wouldn't you agree?"

"I guess… Oh! Tsunade-chan is also blond Uzumaki!" Karin beamed up as the blonde Sannin came to mind. The kind lady that had been kind of weird, but had been treating her mom back to being well again.

Akari's eyes widened at the mention of that name. Tsunade was quite a famous persona. "T-Tsunade? As in Tsunade of the legendary Sannin, the supposed best medic around?" She stuttered out, her gaze fixing on Naruto.

"She is only part Uzumaki, but yes. Her. You looked quite sick, and I doubted that without the experience she had, you'd live. So I brought you to the best of the best." Naruto smirked slightly, and as if that had been her cue to enter, Tsunade knocked on the door and entered.

"Rise and shine Gaki- oh, you're awake. Welcome back to the land of the conscious. You've been out of it for a while." Tsunade muttered as she entered the room. Her pigtails swaying behind her as she walked, and her apprentice right on her heels.

Akari's eyes widened even further as the one and only slug sannin entered the room. Bowing her head down, she stuttered out again, "T-Tsunade-sama! I have no idea on how to thank you for treating me and saving my life…"

Tsunade's eyebrow twitched slightly as she walked over and bonked Naruto on the head, "Don't thank me, thank the gaki here. He brought you here, and he has given me my payment. No debts, it's all been solved."

Naruto couldn't help but pout as he was hit on the head but smiled slightly with a nod as she mentioned that everything had been paid and there was no debt lingering for the sudden treatment.

The redhaired woman started tearing up as she bowed her head, muttering many soft sentences of 'thank you' as she clung to her daughter who giggled at her mother's odd behavior.

* * *

Around five hours later, it was finally around noon time. Akari and Karin had been going through the last few check-ups, and after a tearful goodbye from Karin's side, the Uzumaki trio was finally about to head out from the hotel room.

Tsunade flicked Naruto's forehead with her pointing finger as she leaned in against the doorframe, watching the trio stand in the hallway. "Don't overwork the woman gaki, she has still just woken up last night. Make sure that she gets a proper meal before departing, and a trip to the hot springs would be good for her body's healing." Tsunade instructed sternly with her arms crossed beneath her bosom.

"Hai, hai, don't worry. We aren't going to be leaving the area before evening if everything goes according to plan. It'll take two days on foot, but if I carry them throughout the night we should be back in Konoha by morning." Naruto explained as he rubbed his forehead with annoyance.

Shizune who was standing behind her master raised a curious brow at that, "Why are you in such a rush to get back to Konoha? You could take the day off and relax, sleep here, and then depart by morning."

Naruto blushed with an enormous sweatdrop. If Mikoto found out that he had been slagging on getting back there would surely be hell to pay. "Let's just say I got a furious thing reeling me in back at Konoha. And of course, I shouldn't keep Oji-san waiting."

"The Uchiha woman still scaring you shitless?" Tsunade roared out with laughter and clutched her stomach. She had met Naruto quite a few times already, and the topic of a certain Uchiha Mikoto had often been on topic. The woman was ready to murder for the blond to take a break, she obviously cared a lot for him.

Naruto facepalmed at that, "She doesn't _scare_ me, but I'd rather not make her upset with me. Everything will be easier that way."

"You don't want to make your girlfriend upset? I guess I can respect that." Tsunade smirked with a teasing grin forming on her lips.

Naruto slapped his forehead hardly at that and decided to follow up with slamming his forehead into the wall, "She isn't my girlfriend! She is a married woman for crying out loud, and my best friend's mom. She is basically my aunt at this point, what is it with you and always teasing me like that?"

"A marriage hasn't seemed to be able to stop other lovers from carrying out their inner desires before. And I'm just teasing you gaki, take a break and relax, would you? It's not like it's a taboo topic to talk about if you did like her that way, I mean, of course, homewrecking would be looked down upon. And I doubt this Uchiha Itachi would be happy that you were having a go at this mom and-"

"Tsunade-sama!" Shizune cried out in protest as she stood in between Naruto and her master, a furious blush on her face from all the stuff her master dared to mention in front of Naruto, and even a child.

Tsunade just waved her off and walked back inside, "Don't spoil my fun Shizune, he's fun to tease. Good trip gaki! If you feel like gambling let me know, I could use the extra money."

Naruto just kept trying to rub this growing blush on his cheeks away as he started walking away with Akari and Karin in tow. The latter two were quite perplexed about the conversation, one giggling away at the teasing and the other not quite able to understand any of it, but found her Aniki's flustered face to be hilarious.

"Have a safe trip!" Shizune called from the doorway, making Naruto turn around with a casual wave.

"Yeah, be well until next time. And do something about Tsunade, would you? I'm getting a heart attack from being near her." Naruto groaned out loudly, making the dark-haired girl giggle away with a shake of her head. Naruto and Tsunade would always be like that, nothing would be able to change that. And it was kind of cute the way Naruto seemed to talk about this Uchiha Mikoto, even if he was insisting on denying the possibility of attraction to her.

When the Uzumaki trio had finally left the hotel, Naruto decided to guide them toward a local restaurant with an all you can eat buffet. The place wasn't much to be excited over, but the overall food quality had been said to be one of the best around the area.

So getting a table in the corner of the restaurant, they were handed plates and chopsticks and were told to just go up and get as much they wanted.

The lunch was rather eventful. A woman such as Akari that seemed to carry herself with pride, was now stuffing her face with food. It was a bit fun but sadder to watch. She must really have been starving in Kusa.

When Akari and Karin finished eating to their heart's content, Naruto paid and they were just sitting and relaxing for a but until Akari decided to ask Naruto something.

"Naruto-san? If I may ask, who is this Uchiha Mikoto that you were getting endlessly teased about earlier?" Akari asked in a soft tone, making Naruto blush at the mention of teasing. Sighing into his hand, he leaned into his seat and shrugged.

"Well, she is the mother of my best friend Itachi. When my parents died, she took me in. She raised me after my parents were unable to, and had my back when I needed it. She still occasionally ask me over to dinner with the family, and she is quite fun for an Uchiha, considering that most of them and especially her husband Fugaku is grumpy. She can be a bit scary, but I know she means well. She just cares about my health and gets upset with how much I work and train, but yeah. She is kind, she is a loving mother, she's loyal, she's pretty and beautiful, huh-"

Naruto's eyebrow started twitching dangerously as Akari fell into a giggling mess, "S-Sorry, I just found it a bit funny. I mean no offense, she sounds wonderful. It was just the way you described her, I can understand why Tsunade-sama would tease you about her. You did also say she is pretty and beautiful, and I doubt that is a word you'd casually use when describing the mother of your said best friend."

"Okay! I'll admit I think she's a beautiful woman, but I don't like her the way all of you think I do. She's like my aunt, but I care for her obviously." Naruto pouted with his arms crossed over his chest.

'_Perhaps not yet, but you sound awfully close. Attraction can and will nine out of ten times build up and evolve into feelings.' _Akari thought to herself with a small smile and looked down at her daughter. That was how she had been created anyway. As she nodded at his answer, her mind wandered again. Naruto seemed to think of this woman in high regard, she would look forward to meeting her soon hopefully.

"Very well then. Yet, I'll remind of you never saying never, Naruto-san. Didn't Tsunade-sama mention some glorious hot springs?" Akari finished, changing the topic of their conversation to spare Naruto of anymore embarrassment.

Naruto blinked and nodded his answer, "Yeah, though I wouldn't call them glorious. The environments are just calmer and the water feels nicer. They aren't that different than the ones in Konoha, but I guess if you pay more for the deluxe baths, then your experience would better."

Akari frowned a bit. Of course, she had been ignorant for a second. It obviously costs money to go there.

"If you're frowning about the money, don't sweat about it. I got it covered." Naruto chuckled through a small smirk as Akari's eyes widened in surprise.

"How did you?" She mumbled out slowly with a tilt of her head.

Shaking his head, the blond stood up and patted his full stomach as he motioned for them to follow, "I told you I'd take care of you, and I don't want any disagreements. We're going to relax at the hot springs, and I don't want anything for this. And I'm tempted to throw a fit if you disagree…"

Akari was about to her disagreement, but considering Naruto was almost threatening about throwing a fit she shut up. After all, this blond boy had taken out Ryujin on his own. How wasn't he wounded? It was to her knowledge that Uzumaki healed faster of course, but Ryujin wasn't a pushover from what she had heard around the village in Kusa.

"Fine, but I stand by my terms concerning helping you around the house. I'll cook and clean, and I'll throw a fit if you disagree with that." Now it was Karin's time to flinch a bit. While her mother was kind, she was born the usual Uzumaki stubbornness. Naruto on the other hand sweatdropped. Akari was beginning to look more and more like his mother, and not just in looks.

"H-Hai.." He gulped. The mere image of a second Kushina appearing was enough to startle him. While he normally wasn't afraid of much, there were a few things that startled him. Snakes, angry chunin instructors, and a mother's wrath.

Soon after they were checked in at the Yu no Kuni hot springs. Compared to what Naruto had been treating himself to the last time, he decided that for Karin and Akari's sake, that they would get the more expensive deluxe experience that the hot springs had to offer this season.

To say it was better was an understatement. What Naruto had experienced the first time was just hot water and rocks. This time there were candles, relaxing music, and separated areas for one person to enjoy alone. These separated areas were quite big in size, it wasn't too big nor too small for a single person.

The water was a few degrees hotter, allowing the heat to really sink into the muscles. So here they were. Karin and Akari had their own little bath to relax in, and Naruto from his own bath could hear the child laughing and giggling away with excitement. They probably hadn't experienced a hot springs area before.

Sighing with content, Naruto folded his arms on a rock and rested his chin down on his forearms, his eyes fluttering close as he let out yet another small sigh. Simply letting the warm water wash away the stress and strain of the last few days.

He didn't want to scare Karin or Akari earlier, but the actual reason he wanted to leave was that he had a bad feeling in his gut. If the leader of Kusa was so desperate to get them back in his custody that he would confront them in person, then Naruto sincerely doubted that this was the last they would see of them.

It honestly felt like they had given them up too easily.

So, in order to keep his lost family safe and sound. He wanted to get out of here as fast as possible, even if he had to carry them all the way to the protecting walls of Konoha.

And he had felt the presence of people with stronger chakra signatures around the area the other nights. He was almost certain that either Kusa or other Shinobi was around the area. And while he was confident in his ability, he'd rather avoid the conflict. They had a child with them, and a woman that had just woken up and finished her treatment after all.

He had clones hiding all around the town, transformed into rocks, bushes, and all kinds of objects to scout and keep watch for him. So if anything suspicious happens, then he would know in an instant when they were popped.

And as if he had dared the devil to show himself, he felt the tingling sensation in the back of his head. One of his clones had popped. And it wasn't on its own free will. His eyes snapping open as he started seeing all the memories and last visions of several clones that had been hiding a few streets away from the hot springs.

Gritting his teeth with anger bubbling in the very depths of his core, Naruto leaped out of the hot water and rushed into the changing room. Quickly getting dressed as he pulled out his scrolls, unsealing his armor as several more clones popped to alert him.

They were inching closer and closer to the hot springs at a rapid pace. There must have been either spies or scouts in the area. He didn't know how they would otherwise have found them so quickly.

Placing his ANBU gear back in place, he hurriedly unsealed his sword and the blade he had stolen or well… Taken as spoils of war from Ryujin a few days prior. And placed them on his back and at his waist respectively.

Crossing his fingers as he stood in the private changing room, he muttered softly to himself, **"Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu." **And a dozen clones appeared around him. All of them quickly transformed their appearance into that of workers and guests of the hot springs before scattering all around the area.

Naruto himself hurried to the wall where Karin and Akari were behind on knocked on it. As he waited, more and more of his clones got popped. He had no one left now to spy on the area around him besides the clones that were transformed and hiding within the walls of the hot springs.

Akari was the one to open the wooden door with a towel wrapped around her body. A small blush on her face as she opened her mouth to speak but was quickly shoved inside the area again and the door was closed. When she saw it was Naruto, and that he was clad in the battle uniform she had first seen him in, her eyes widened with her lips trembling.

"There's someone here and I don't know yet if it's Kusa or not. I had clones keep watch for me, but they were all disposed of in mere moments. I only have clones inside the hot springs now, and you two need to get dressed as fast as possible. We need to get out of here, there are too many civilians and risks from staying here." Naruto whispered out demandingly, and Akari dumbly nodded as she grabbed Karin and rushed out to change back into their clothes.

It only took a few minutes, and the two redheaded females came out wearing their clothes. Their hair was damp and wet as they panted slightly, and Naruto instantly grabbed onto Akari's free hand as she held the confused and scared Karin to her chest with her other hand. Slowly dragging them throughout the hot springs, Naruto reached up and slowly pulled his sword out of its sheath. Holding it up before him as the light of the dancing flames from the candles reflected off of it and onto the walls around them in yellow and orange patterns.

The first clone within the hot springs popped. They were at the entrance. It was only a matter of time now before panic would spread throughout the establishment. It was beyond his understanding all of this. True they were in Yu no Kuni, but they were so close to the Hi no Kuni borders yet again. Was Kusa really that desperate? While they were already in shit to their knees from the political issues they had just been put in, they were assaulting a Konoha shinobi for the second time around. Oh, there would be hell to pay when Hiruzen found out about this without a doubt.

He was at a disadvantage right now. More and more clones were popping left and right. They were surrounded. There had to be a skilled shinobi or kunoichi among them if they were so easily able to distinguish his clones from ordinary people. And he was tasked with protecting both Akari and Karin. He was without a doubt on the defense in an upcoming fight.

Finding a nearby closet, Naruto looked around him before turning around to make Akari face him, "We got a few options. I can either hide you in here and fight them off on the offense, or bring you with me and fight, but I'll without a doubt be on the defense. I'll, of course, have clones guarding you, but I'd rather not leave you two out of my sight for too long."

Akari's face lowered with a guilt-filled frown. She hadn't been in Naruto's company for more than about a week, and she was already giving him this much trouble. Attacks from left and right, constantly protecting them and treating her. He even got a Sannin to heal her since she had been so sick and fatigued.

"I-I don't know. It seems like all I bring you is bloodshed and battle. Perhaps the wisest option for you would be to hand us over again. Or just hand me over, but take Karin with you! I want my child to grow up happy in Konoha, and she got you there. Her Aniki. You can protect her, keep her safe, and I'll do the same by staying in Kusa." Akari mumbled out in distress before Naruto squeezed her hand tightly making her gasp with a confused glance.

"No. We are Uzumaki, and we stick together. You are my family, Karin is my family, and I won't hand you back even if I'm on my dying breath. I'm not overconfident by saying this, but if I can take out their leader I doubt that I can't take out what other goons they had to offer me this time. But you got to take Karin with you and hide somewhere, I don't want her to experience what I'm about to do." Naruto spoke with determination as he lowered his sword and let go of Akari's hand.

Reaching into his pouch, he pulled out a kunai and placed it in her hand before curling her fings around it tightly. "You take this and hide here. I'll be back as soon as possible." He spoke as if it was the end of this conversation, just making her dumbly nod.

Nodding with satisfaction, Naruto crossed his fingers again and started to create two more clones, but these two were pumped up with enough chakra to resemble that of fifty clones respectively. The two clones quickly hid with Akari and Karin in the closet, closing the door before Naruto blew out the candles in the hallway to let the area go dark. It was showtime.

The darkness erupted in the room as the candles flickered out, leaving a trail of smoke to rise to the ceiling. Grabbing the hood of his cloak, Naruto pulled it over his head before drawing the sword he had taken from the leader of Kusa.

Racing off into the dark hallways, Naruto mentally prayed for Akari and Karin to be safe. Jumping off into the ceiling to stick to it, Naruto stayed there as the screams he had predicted started echoing all over the hot springs. They were here now. If they dared to lay a single finger on any of the civilians, then he would brutally slaughter them. Snorting quietly to himself, he reminded himself that it had been the plan all along.

They were daring to mess with his family, and he wouldn't allow that. So as he kept hiding at the ceiling, his back against it as his front was facing toward the floor, he started hearing the rapid running footsteps racing throughout the establishment. As he had suspected, they were shinobi. Their chakra signatures were getting closer faster than a civilian would be able to, and the moment his eyes came into contact with two figures running beneath him. He dropped from the ceiling.

Cutting the flow of chakra from his palms and feet, he tightly grabbed his sword and dropped just down on top of them. Pointing his blades downward, he gritted his teeth as he stabbed both of them in the back of their head. Landing right in between them as their bodies were slammed into the wooden floor, a pool of blood already spilling from their corpses as he pulled his blades out of their fractured skulls.

Those were weak. He honestly found it insulting. He had been facing off ANBU level shinobi the last time, along with the village leader but these two didn't even seem like chunin level, but this also meant the strong one that was able to sense his clones were also still out there somewhere.

There wasn't any time to waste, and he was beyond tired of dealing with Kusa. He wanted to go home, with his family. So, with a quick hand seal, he body flickered toward the place he could sense the most chakra signatures. He landed with a swirl of leaves around his frame right in the middle of a small group of five. His presence startled them, but before they could mutter a word they were already at the mercy of the blond's blades.

Moving fast and swift around, he spun beneath an incoming fist and decapitated the arm of his enemy, letting the limp fall down to the ground with an audible thud as the man screamed with blood pouring out of the stump that was left of his arm. To put the man out of his misery, Naruto stabbed his sword up through the man's skull, blood dripping down the metal of his sword before he kicked the corpse through a paper wall.

The remaining four shook in place as they took a step back. The hooded figure had just mercilessly torn down their comrade in barely a second, looking like a nightmare in the dark as he turned around to look at them. The blood of their friend dripping from the tip of his sword.

"Which one of you losers are in charge?" Naruto asked coldly as he flicked the blood off of his sword. His body slowly starting to walk toward them as they scrambled against the wall. These shinobi were a joke. How desperate could Kusa be? This was an insult to his ability, or perhaps Kusa simply didn't have anything to offer him.

"R-Ryuzaki-sama!" One of them yelled out with despair and pushed his back up against the wall as he with a trembling hand held a kunai in his grasp, a desperate attempt to cling to his life.

Naruto tilted his head as he effortlessly flicked his sword against the kunai, letting the metal fly out of the man's grasp and onto the floor with a loud metal ringing sound, "And which of you weaklings is Ryuzaki? I already beat one 'Ryu' so who's this loser?"

"R-Ryuzaki-sama is Ryujin-sama's son!" A female tone muttered from his right, standing in the corner of the corridor with her legs trembling with fear.

"You guys are utterly pathetic. You are shinobi! Yet you also trash around with the fear of death in your veins. You are not true shinobi, you are academy students with a headband!" Naruto roared out with slight anger, his sword in a split second later thrust up into the chest of the man he had interrogated the moment before. Blood pouring out of the wound in his chest as he coughed up blood, and fell limply to the ground.

The woman gasped and felt like vomiting as yet another comrade of hers was slaughtered like a farm animal. His body lying limply against the wall with a pool of blood forming beneath him. The remaining three of her teammates trying to make a run for it, but before they could even get around the corner, three shining kunai were embedded into the back of their skull respectively, while this masked monster's hand was outstretched in their directions. The attack had been so fast, she hadn't even seen or heard the kunai being thrown.

"You're a monster!" She screamed and fumbled into her pouch, screaming with tearful eyes and a pale face as she desperately threw shuriken, kunai, and senbon to save her life, but the blade of Naruto's sword was easily deflecting them all over the hallway.

With a soft chuckling, Naruto kicked the man's lifeless corpse, "I'm a Shinobi, it kind of lays in the job description. So if you are such a coward, I give you a way out of this. Tell me where Ryuzaki is, and I'll let you live. And what is your goal here?"

"U-Uzumaki Naruto of Konoha crippled Ryujin-sama… We need the female Uzumaki to heal him! And Ryuzaki is outside! There are only f-five more of us in here!" She yelled out, not even daring to think for a second before blurting everything out. And Naruto could tell she wasn't lying.

Naruto sheathed his sword and crossed his arms over his chest, "I already cut down two, so that means three more. Tell me of this Ryuzaki, what should I expect from him?"

She couldn't believe this. So many of her comrades were already dead. What kind of monster was this guy? And how did Uzumaki Naruto find him on such a short notice? Or could it be that this was the man that had taken down their leader and crippled him?

Slumping down against the wall, she felt powerless and weak as she stared up at the hooded man, "Ryuzaki-sama is a water release user, he has a sword! A-And that's all I know, please believe me! I have never fought along with Ryuzaki-sama before, I don't know anything else." She wailed out.

Naruto felt truly sorry for this girl. She had been put in harm's way by her village, and he doubted she was anything above Chunin at most. He wanted to spare her, but if Kusa had to know the hard way that he wasn't to be messed with, he couldn't leave any survivors. Unless he wanted one to tell the tale and give a message.

"As promised, I'll let you live, tell you Ryujin-dono that if he dares to mess with Konoha again, I won't spare his Shinobi any more mercy… But if I see your face ever again, I will take my mercy back and feed you limp by limp to The Shinigami." Naruto threatened as he released a bone-chilling killing intent all over the hallway, making the woman cry out in fear as she rapidly nodded.

With a swift blow to her neck, she gasped with salvia flying out of her mouth as she was knocked out by Naruto's hand. The side of his hand had been chopped right into her neck, making her vision go black as she passed out against the floor.

Shaking his head at the bloodshed he had committed, Naruto sighed and pulled out the sword, he had taken from Kusa, out of its sheath. This sword had belonged to his enemy's father, and to be sure his message came through to this Ryuzaki fellow. He would cut him down with his own father's blade. Not that the message would have much meaning when he was dead. Yet the sour justice would be a sweet pleasure for Naruto. He didn't enjoy bloodshed, but he would do anything to make sure his family was safe.

* * *

Ryuzaki of Kusa was standing outside of the hot springs. He had taken great pleasure in hearing all of the screams echoing from inside. His father had been weak and overconfident in his ability to take down one man, he wouldn't be so foolish. He loved and respected his old man, but he needed a stronger will for the sake of Kusa.

As the door creaked open, he narrowed his eyes as one of his shinobi came slowly waltzing out through the door, "I had heard the tales of the Yondaime Hokage's son, yet I never believed fully that he was indeed as powerful as the stories and bingo book suggests."

The man he had been talking to fell limply down to the ground, revealing the cloaked Naruto who chuckled and reached up to pull his hood down, "So as I thought, you do indeed have some sensory skills. It surprised me that someone was able to take out all of my clones, it indeed did surprise me."

"Kusa produces some of the best shinobi, it's an insult to our nation that you think so little of us." Ryuzaki snorted as he flicked some of his dark locks out of his face. His sharp narrowed eyes glaring daggers at this blond _boy_ that was daring to stand above his dead shinobi, holding his _father's_ sword in his hand as it belonged to him now.

Snorting with laughter Naruto leaned down to wipe the sword's blade clean on the dead man's clothes, adding more salt to Ryuzaki's wounds as the man clenched his fist tightly. Digging his nails into his palm to draw a few droplets of blood.

"If some of the best were taken down so easily, I think I should dub myself the next Shinobi no Kami. This was a pathetic bunch, they cried and begged for mercy. What were they? Genin level? Chunin maybe?" Naruto snorted as he pushed the corpse away with the tip of his foot.

"They were mere cannon fodder to weaken the enemy, they served their purpose. You've yet to experience the real challenge. I doubt you'll surrender, so let's see what the oh so great Uzumaki Naruto has to offer!" Ryuzaki roared out, and Naruto could have sworn he saw the image of Ryujin behind him. Father like son indeed.

Shaking his head Naruto lifted the blade and decided to put it to the test. Kusa had produced great weapons in the past, so he wanted to see if this one lived up to the tales. Lightning crackled around his fist as the entire edge was surrounded by a dark blue coat of lightning, the sparks of electricity flying off the blade.

'_I went easy the last time, I'm not going to make that mistake twice.' _Naruto thought to himself as he disappeared from sight. Appearing straight beside Ryuzaki who scowled and backflipped away from the lightning-fast sword that roared with the lightning coated slicing through the air.

Ryuzaki flipped a few feet away, the wind rushing through his hair as he flipped through hand seals at a quick pace "Don't underestimate me! Like I would fall for such a pathetic attack!" He shouted back with angry veins forming all over his face.

"**Water Release: Water Serpents!" **He roared out, and the entire ground started rumbling. The roof of the hot springs' establishment flew off as three huge serpents made out of the boiling water flew into the air.

Snorting Naruto leaped straight into the air and above the three serpents, his hand letting go of the sword as it swirled in the air beside him. His hands going through hand seals at light's speed as his hands crackled with lightning. **"Lightning Release Bullet: Splitting Powerful Breath." **Naruto calmly called out as he spread his palm that was immediately covered in blinding blue lights of condensed lightning chakra. Thrusting his hand forward he unleashed a splitting lightning bolt that wrapped all around the three serpents.

Narrowing his eyes as the serpents inched closer by the second, Naruto clenched his fist tightly together as the lightning powerfully squeezed the water jutsu. With an agony filled cry, the three serpents exploded into a shower of burning hot water.

Landing on a nearby ceiling, it didn't take Naruto a moment before he had finished his next series of hand seals. Thrusting both lightning covered palms forward this time, he called out, **"Lightning Release: False Darkness!" **Two identical dark blue spears of lightning sprung out of his palms with a thunderous roar.

Ryuzaki almost didn't have any time to react before he had to form a water wall to protect himself. The water-based defense barely managed to form in time before it was destroyed without mercy. The electrolyzed water exploding all over him as his body burned with the paralyzing electricity running through his veins.

Groaning with gritted teeth, Ryuzaki kneeled down and fumbled with his sword to get out of its sheath. His semi-paralyzed body barely reacting to his brain's commands. "Y-You got some nerve!" He muttered out with a shaking body that was still twitching from the lightning attack, his sword barely grasped as he almost dropped it onto the ground at the sound of a loud thunderclap beside him.

Without time to turn his head, a powerful lightning coated fist was striking his cheek with such velocity and power that it sends him flying at light's speed into the hot springs, crashing through wall after wall, the audible sound of bones cracking met his ears as he winced loudly in pain.

Naruto stood calmly back in place as the lightning that had been covering his feet and hands disappeared. Reaching his hand into the air, he grabbed the hilt of the sword he had let go of earlier and quickly sheathed it in its sheath. "You speak so proudly of Kusa's powerful shinobi, but yet I have to see any. I was foolish enough to hold back against your old man, I won't make the same mistake twice. Seems like I overestimated your power as a sensor as well, or maybe you were just too slow." The blond taunted.

"DON'T MOCK MY POWER!" The loud roar came from the former nice hot springs, the cry of the rage of despair was followed with a huge water dragon tearing down the rest of the place as it flew into the sky, glaring down at Naruto's form.

"Your ignorance shall be your downfall just as it nearly was mine." Naruto sighed and flipped through some similar hand seals and raised his fist into the air again. The splitting lightning bolt springing out of his arm to crash right into the mouth of the water dragon. The water dragon exploded above the surrounding houses, raining with hot electrolyzed water.

Ryuzaki came flying out of the remains of the destroyed water dragon, his sword held high as his skin was severely burned all over his body. Attempting to cut down at Naruto, the blond easily sidestepped and drew both of his blades, one quickly blocking and redirecting another swift attack from the Kusa shinobi, and the remaining one getting jammed right down through the man's thigh to split it open.

Ryuzaki's eyes widened with horror as he cried out in pain. He looked down and watched the blood pour out of his leg as the sword was mercilessly yanked out of his leg, cutting the wound even further open.

His eyes were so filled with anger and fury, the pain in his blood-soaked leg ignored as he stood up and attempted to cut Naruto down with blind fury behind each swing of his sword.

Naruto started to feel pity for this man as well. He was like an exact copy of his former opponent, Ryujin. Seemed like this overconfident behavior was a family trait, or perhaps just the way of Kusa. Sighing to himself while evading every quick slash and stab, the blond felt no pattern or strategy behind any of these attacks.

Ryuzaki was like a wounded animal.

Shaking his head again, Naruto drew his sword out of its sheath and channeled his lightning chakra through it. Deciding to put an end to the man's misery, he blocked the next incoming slash at his chest and pushed the man back.

The pain in Ryuzaki's leg started to show itself more and more, almost unable to move back as the blond forced him into the defense yet again. He was forced to bring his own up to block an incoming attack, the clashing of their blades sending sparks of lightning all over his face and into his eyes. Groaning loudly he fell onto his rear, holding his sword up as the blond cut at him over and over again.

The lightning filled blade was proving more and more dominant. The blade in Ryuzakii's hand starting to get more and mored red glowing from the heat, and the blade soon snapped in half and he dropped the hilt. His palms filled with burn marks as his flesh was smoking.

Naruto frowned with the pity all over his face. He could without a second thought strike him down here in self-defense. It wouldn't hurt Konoha or anyone. He was the one that got attacked after all. And the village surely wouldn't mind that he took the life of the man terrorizing their home.

Ryuzaki's face got crazier and crazier as his eyes bulged out of his head "DO IT! Don't you have the balls to do it?! Are you some pathetic weakling? Is this all Konoha has to offer? A spineless coward-" Ryuzaki never got to say another word as the lightning coated blade was stabbed right in through his mouth, escaping the back of his neck as his eyes became dull and lifeless.

"You can insult me, but insult my home or family and I won't spare you any mercy," Naruto muttered primarily to himself. His opponent was too dead to hear it after all.

* * *

Akari had been hearing the tons of screams and cries of battle. Somehow this lone section of the hot springs hadn't been torn down during the fight, but she had heard the roof and walls getting torn down around her and Karin. Speaking of Karin, the child was hiding her mother's clothes as the two clones stood guard on each side of the door.

She gasped when the two clones suddenly vanished out of existence, leaving two small clouds of smoke behind. Soon the sound of echoing footsteps on the wooden floor outside of the became louder and louder, before stopping right outside of the closet she was hiding in.

Holding up her kunai, she was getting ready until she heard Karin mutter, "A-Aniki.." Blinking at her daughter's words, and sensed out the area. With a soft sigh, she lowered the kunai. It was just Naruto.

Opening the door up, she was immediately greeted with the sight of Naruto soaked in blood and looked him all over, "Naruto? Are you alright?! What happened to you?" She asked with worry evident in her voice.

"H-Hai! Hai, I'm, alright." He chuckled with embarrassment, scratching the back of his head.

Akari narrowed her eyes skeptically at him and stood out of the closet, Karin following right behind her as she looked him over, "You're covered in blood." She stated, and Naruto felt liked face-palming at his point.

"It isn't mine, so don't worry. I didn't get wounded this time around." He kept chuckling in a soft manner. While he hadn't held back, he hadn't gone all out either. He wouldn't unless it was needed of him, and this Ryuzaki was at his highest B-Rank from what Naruto could experience before he had cut him down.

"You need a change of clothes." She huffed a bit. This blond baka had made her worry, but she was joy-filled that he was unharmed and well. The ruckus outside almost made her think otherwise.

Naruto just dumbly nodded. She was also starting to sound like Kushina now. It was truly terrifying to witness.

"Yeah, but first I want to get the hell out of here. I'm so done with vacations." Naruto chuckled, making Karin giggle slightly as she wiped her tearful eyes.

Akari huffed again and bonked him on the head, "Language, there is a child present."

"Itai! Hai, hai, I'm sorry."

* * *

The next few hours were spent getting thanked by the villagers. Naruto was getting endless gifts and even some more lewd offers for having saved their town. The hot springs owners were sulking and pouting at their ruined establishment, mumbling about how they would explain this to the insurance companies.

Before leaving the area, Naruto had gotten rid of the dead bodies and sealed Ryuzaki's body inside a scroll. The man had been the son of a village leader and had been rather rude and loathsome like his old man. So, the least he could do as repayment was being cashed in as a bounty.

And before they had left Yu no Kuni, they had gotten much-needed showers and new clothes. Naruto practically had to beg them to let him pay, since they were so dead set on repaying him for saving their village from the monsters that had invaded their home. Little did they know it was actually him that had brought them here by saving his family, but they didn't need to get their good moods ruined by knowing that.

Akari was now wearing some black skin-tight pants and a long-sleeved red shirt. Karin was wearing the same as she had been gifted earlier when they had been with Tsunade and Shizune, and Naruto just settled for some plain black and white clothes despite Akari's pleas of him getting some more color into his outfit.

Naruto had pouted and asked what was wrong with his clothes, and Akari had just shaken her head at him and stated he looked plainer than a boring wall without any color. A hit to his pride would be an understatement. Not that he had much pride in the first place outside of battle.

So here they were after a long week. Walking side by side through the woods toward Konoha. Naruto and Akari chatting slightly about more Uzumaki stuff and history, while Karin was getting a piggyback ride from her Aniki.

Naruto was pretty deep into the conversation, so he didn't notice Karin pulling and playing slightly with his spiky blond locks. Questioning ever so often how they were so soft while looking so spiky. To say Naruto had an interest in the Uzumaki's use of Fuinjutsu would be an understatement.

And so their journey continued, and soon they would be home. Back in Konoha where the Uzumaki should from now on belong.

Akari who had held a small break in her stories looked up at the blond and gained the very first grin Naruto had ever seen on her. And it was a teasing one at that.

"So, tell me more about this Mikoto…"

'_Oh, you got to be kidding me…'_

* * *

**Here we go. The longest chapter of this story so far. I hoped you liked it. I certainly enjoyed writing all the teasing, and of course, I had fun getting more experience with writing fight scenes.**

**Questions of the chapter: What did you think of this fight compared to the last one? How do you think Mikoto and Akari will get along? Let me know your theories and thoughts.**

**Please go follow my Twitter as well so you can get updated when I release new stuff. Skairipa1337. Thanks for your time.**


	8. Welcome home

_**Chapter 8 - Welcome home**_

* * *

**Pairing: Naruto x Uchiha Mikoto. **

**THIS WILL ****NOT**** BE A HAREM**

**A/N: I post updates regarding the story on my Twitter. So, if you want to be prepared for when chapters come out, I'm always announcing how far I am with the stories in good time. My Twitter: Skairipa1337.**

**I would like to thank a very good friend of mine, Nanami Uzumaki, for helping me write some parts of this chapter. I really appreciated your help!**

**QUICK QUESTION: Should I tone down the Naruto teasing for a little bit? Is it getting too much?**

**Warning: The main character's age has been adjusted.**

* * *

_Gates of Konohagakure no Sato._

* * *

The rest of their journey toward Konoha had been uneventful. Naruto had carried them through the night with the help of a clone, and now at sunrise, the Uzumaki trio had finally, after a long and tiring trip, arrived at the large gates of Konoha.

Akari and Karin were standing still in front of the gates, as Uzushio had been quite big in Akari's eyes, but the walls of Konoha alone was enough to give the word 'big' an entirely new meaning to her. The parts of the village that were visible was also adding a lot of meaning to the word.

"Come on, we're almost there." Naruto chuckled as he led the two redheads into Konoha. It was quite the challenge to keep them focused, as their eyes kept wandering all over the place from the large buildings to the various shinobi everywhere, to even the market district and other kids playing around in the streets.

Akari blinked a few times before nodding, following the blond through his home village. Karin was almost getting lost every other second. So many people and other kids invited her to play. She was a bit hesitant to say yes to them, especially when her mom came and picked her up, saying they had places to be.

Naruto chuckled at the sight and reached up to ruffle Karin's hair, "Don't worry, we can come back another time." He reassured her, making her blush slightly at the ruffling of her already slightly messy red hair.

And with that being said, they continued throughout the village. It was truly a wonderful place in the female Uzumaki's eyes. So much to see, so much to experience. It was much bigger and more… welcoming, than Kusa had ever been toward them all the time they had been living there.

All the stands offered the foreigners taste samples, probably because Naruto was with them, but they seemed genuinely interested in being kind toward them. So on the way toward the Hokage tower, they tasted all kinds of street foods. Sushi, onigiri, grilled squid, and the list continued.

As they were nearing the tower, a very familiar person to Naruto started to come into sight. "Itachi!" Naruto called out cheerfully, also getting the intention of Akari who had been occupied with Karin getting a balloon gifted, that she seemed greatly interested in. Especially its pink color for some odd reason.

Akari turned her gaze as a boy around Naruto's age with long dark hair and onyx eyes came into sight. The boy was wearing the same outfit as Naruto was, and she smiled to herself as she watched the two walks over to meet each other. _'So this is Uchiha Itachi…'_

"You're back. It is sooner than expected." Itachi greeted in his usual monotone voice, but a small smile was still present on his face.

Naruto nodded and crossed his arms over his chest, "The mission had a few bumps here and there, but overall it went well and we got back before the expected three months."

"That's good. That's good." Itachi mumbled out and broke eye contact to stare down to his side, which immediately caught Naruto's attention. Itachi was acting weird.

Raising a brow slightly, Naruto placed his hand on the other boy's shoulder and tilted his head down to get eye contact again, "Is something wrong Itachi? You seem odd. More than usual." He tried joking lightly.

Itachi's face supported a small frown as he removed Naruto's hand, "Nothing that I can personally speak of. You should go see Hokage-sama, and introduce him to your guests." Itachi whispered out, making Naruto's eyes widen. Itachi had neither denied nor agreed on something being wrong, which was a huge waving red flag in his mind.

Walking past Naruto and toward the two redheaded females, Itachi tried his best to keep a polite composure on his features as he bowed his head down, "It's a pleasure to meet you, I'm Itachi. Uchiha Itachi."

Akari giggled a bit at him, he was exactly like Naruto had described him to be, "It's a pleasure to meet you as well Itachi-san. My name is Uzumaki Akari, and this is my daughter, Uzumaki Karin."

Karin tilted her head as she nearly let go of her balloon, "Are you Aniki's friend?" She asked curiously.

Itachi's eyes widened at the surnames. These two were Uzumaki? So they were the reason why Naruto, of all people, was sent on a political mission. It all made sense to him now. Shaking his head, and smiling a bit he stood up as he looked at the young girl, "Friend and colleague yes. It was a pleasure getting to meet the two of you. If you'll excuse me, I have to be somewhere in a few minutes."

"Likewise Itachi-san, but please call me Akari. A friend of Naruto is a friend of mine. We should get going as well, right Naruto-kun?" Akari politely answered before turning her gaze to Naruto, who was busy looking confused at Itachi's back.

Blinking at the mention of his name, Naruto just nodded, "Yeah, we have to go meet Oji-san, but we'll talk later, Itachi." Naruto demanded as the Uzumaki trio started walking toward the tower at last.

Itachi just nodded in response. There would be stuff to talk about indeed. It was only a matter of time before Naruto would find out what happened. It couldn't be kept a secret much longer. He would have preferred if Naruto had waited a bit longer before returning home, but he hadn't. So he would have to adjust.

'_I should get Yugao and Genma around as well. This could end up in a disaster if he doesn't get a hold of himself.' _Itachi sighed to himself before body flickering out of the area.

* * *

Naruto was lost deep in thought. Itachi was _always_ calm and collected. Yet he seemed to be extremely odd earlier. Shaking his head free of his thoughts, he walked up the stairs of the Hokage tower with Karin and Akari in tow. Getting close to the Hokage's office, Naruto smiled back at them and signaled for them to wait for his signal as he walked over to start knocking on the door.

There was a brief second of silence before he heard 'enter' from within the room. Reaching down for the doorknob he turned it and opened to door with an audible creaking sound. Entering the office, Naruto chuckled a bit, "Still not done with the paperwork yet?"

Hiruzen's eyes widened as he looked up, meeting his surrogate grandson's eyes, "Naruto-kun. You're back so soon. I didn't expect you back in the village for another two months give or take." He smiled fondly, yet there was something in his eyes that made Naruto feel uncomfortable about all of this. It was the same look Itachi had in his eyes earlier.

"Well, the mission went great. Though Kusa was a huge pain in the ass. They attacked me on the way back twice, and I may or may not have crippled the leader of Kusa and taken the life of his son." Naruto frowned a bit, rubbing the back of his head as he gazed down at the floor.

Hiruzen's eyes narrowed slightly. This was troubling news, but he was sure there was more to it. Naruto wouldn't with what was one the line ever go that far without reason. "May I ask why such drastic actions were taken during your mission?"

"We were first ambushed in Kusa. The leader of the place, Ryujin, attacked us in person, and I spared his life after I won. We proceeded to travel to the border between Hi no Kuni and Yu no Kuni in search for Tsunade after I requested her whereabouts. We found her and she helped out. Though on our way to Konoha from Yu no Kuni, Ryujin's son Ryuzaki decided to follow in his father's footsteps." Naruto explained slowly with Hiruzen listening intensely.

Hiruzen nodded with a small sigh escaping his lips, "So you were acting in self-defense. Kusa will have to hear about this. Konoha has trading contracts with the people in Yu no Kuni, so we won't treat these matters lightly."

Naruto just nodded in return, not too sure what to say before snapped his fingers and grinned, "Oji-san, I would like for you to meet some people." He smiled brightly, as the soft footsteps echoed in the hallway and a redheaded woman carrying a child with the same hair color as she entered the office with a small bow.

Hiruzen stood up with a smile. So there were indeed two Uzumaki that had been mistreated in Kusa. Walking over to the two, he noticed the bow and chuckled lightly, "On behalf of the citizens of Konoha, I welcome you within our walls. Allow me to introduce myself, I'm Sarutobi Hiruzen, Sandaime Hokage of Konohagakure no Sato. I trust the village has shown you a warm welcome?"

Akari smiled and bowed again respectfully, "Hai Hokage-sama, the village has been warm and friendly toward me and my daughter. It's an honor to be here."

"At ease, no reason to bow. Your clan always had a home in Konoha, and I'm very sorry to hear how you were treating in Kusagakure no Sato. I can promise without a doubt that, that treatment will not occur again within our walls." Hiruzen informed with slight disgust aimed at Kusa.

Akari frowned a bit at the memories of her time in Kusa, and hugged Karin a bit tighter to her, "It's in the past now. I'm just happy that Naruto-kun found us and brought us _home_. I am however sorry that he had to go through so much trouble and violence."

Naruto's brows raised further upon his forehead as he shook his head, "It was no trouble at all. I would do it all again."

Akari blushed with a small smile. That boy truly had a heart of pure gold. "Oh, how silly of me. Hokage-sama, this is my daughter Uzumaki Karin." The older woman introduced her child, that was staring a bit funnily at the old man's hat.

The old Hokage leaned down to extend his hand toward the child, "A pleasure to meet you as well." The old man chuckled as he gently shook the child's hand.

"Why do you wear a funny hat?" She asked with a tilt of her head, making Akari almost fall on her feet as she placed a hand over her child's mouth.

"Karin! Don't disrespect the Hokage like that, he is the leader of our new home…" She whispered harshly.

Hiruzen however just laughed at the comment and brought his hat down, "It's quite alright Akari-san. It's nice to see the younger generation has some spirit. And this hat symbolizes my role as Hokage, the leader and protector of Konohagakure no Sato and Hi no Kuni."

"Cool…" She mumbled with amazement. Konoha was so big, and this old man was its protector? He must be even stronger than her Aniki…

Hiruzen stood up and turned to look at Naruto, and let out a sigh before saying, "As requested, your parents' old estate has been cleaned and taken care of. It's ready to be moved into. And with that, I would suggest that my assistant escorts Akari and Karin there to get set up and become familiar with the place."

Naruto blinked a bit confused. He would have liked to be there as well to show them around the place, but it seemed like there was something else that needed to be talked about, out of their presence. "I see, then that's what we'll do, I suppose."

Hiruzen summoned his assistant that greeted the two newcomers with a smile before starting to lead the way out of the office.

"I will come around the place as soon as I can! Just make yourselves comfortable." Naruto shouted down the hallway through the door frame to get the two Uzumaki's attention, making them turn their heads to nod at him with small smiles before they, at last, started to leave for their new house and home.

When he couldn't see them anymore, Naruto entered Hiruzen's office again and closed the door behind him. Turning his head toward the old man. "I assume there was something you wanted to talk about since you had them leave without me?"

Hiruzen sighed as he walked over to Naruto, lifting his hand to place it on his shoulder. His gaze overflowing with sadness as he spoke in a soft tone.

"Naruto… I'm sorry to inform you that… Uchiha Shisui has passed away."

Naruto felt himself freeze as the words registered in his head, the world around him seemed to catch its breath, all sounds fading and becoming nothing.

All he could hear was the repeated words of Shisui, his best friend, having passed away.

It suddenly became harder to stand still, to keep his composure, to _focus on anything_. He didn't want to believe what he had just heard—because there is no way in hell that his friend had actually died. There was just _no way_.

"W-what the hell are you saying? Don't joke like that! Tell me it's not true!" Naruto denied, but when no laughter was heard, he felt his voice catch in his throat, feeling himself getting dizzy. Tears formed in his eyes, his lips quivered, his fingers trembled along with his body.

Hiruzen frowned and shook his head, trying to walk over to give his surrogate grandson a comforting hug, "I'm sorry Naruto-kun, but Shisui took his own life just last night. He was found floating around the Naka river. His funeral is planned for tomorrow afternoon. I'm sure the Uchiha would appreciate you being there. Especially Itachi." He spoke in a soft tone.

Naruto didn't respond, remaining silent. And, gritting his teeth, he slapped Hiruzen's hand away. The ANBU that guarded the Hokage dropped from the ceiling and surrounded him, their hands placed at the hilts of their respective weapons, ready to protect their leader.

"Stand down!" Hiruzen roared out, making the ANBU fall back as he stared at Naruto who was trembling in place, the blond's eyes shadowed by his blond locks falling from his forehead.

Shisui was dead. It couldn't be true. Shisui was strong, he had been happy. He was always smiling. Why would he kill himself? Why… Nothing made sense. It made him frustrated, confused, and angry. The tears that had begun to form, began to roll down his cheeks as one, dripping to the floor.

It became too much—the _world _became too much for him. He couldn't stand to be here anymore, to see the pitied look on the Hokage's face. It all became too overwhelming.

Grabbing his hair with frustration, he body flickered out of the office, leaving Hiruzen behind, who frowned, having seen and felt the sheer despair that had filled the blonde, an emotion he had seen in so many veterans that either completely broke them or overwhelmed them to the point of becoming suicidal. And upon seeing that look on Naruto's face, it caused him a great deal of pain in his old heart.

It was never easy to see your precious people in pain.

* * *

Naruto landed in his old team's training ground, and immediately fell to his knees, breaking down completely. Sobs wracked his body, tears rolled down his cheeks endlessly. His chakra wept with him, storming and crying in agony—the wind trickled through his hair and face.

Naruto stared at the ground, the lush green grass staring back up at him innocently, and somehow, that caused a deep burning rage to grow within him.

"Why?"

Gritting his teeth he clenched his fists.

"_WHY_?!" he roared the word over and over again. His fist slammed into the ground harshly, bruising his fist, but causing the ground to cave and create a small crater that seemed to grow deeper and deeper as his fist slammed repeatedly into the ground. Hurt burned deep within his soul, sorrow permeated throughout his chakra.

In his blind anger-fueled fury, Naruto flew off the ground on wobbly feet. His hands almost trying to rip his hair out of his skull before he waltzed over to a boulder. His palm placed against it as he stared down at the ground. His gaze blurry with the tears that kept running down his face. Shisui for sure would have laughed at him for being such a crybaby.

Clenching his fist that was hanging by his side, he started replaying all of his memories of Shisui inside his mind. A light blue coat of lightning wrapping around his fist unconsciously.

_Nauto was busy training with his shuriken as a kunai flew past his face and into the training dummy. Turning his head to glare at the one who had almost put a kunai in his kunai, he was met by the oddly cheerful grin of a dark-haired boy._

"_So you're the one Itachi kept talking about." He stated and looked around at the training dummies that all had shuriken embedded right in the red bullseye. _

_Naruto tilted his head confused and kept his glare on, "The name is Naruto, and who the hell are you?"_

"_Oh, how rude. The name is Shisui! Uchiha Shisui! Great to meet ya!" Shisui snickered and pointed a thumb in against his chest._

_Naruto scratched the back of his head at this odd person, "You show it the weirdest way… You almost threw a kunai in my head!"_

_Shisui just shrugged and flipped a kunai between his fingers, "Well, I didn't? Did I?"_

"_You're odd…"_

The lightning around Naruto's fist grew in size and turned more and more dark blue. The intensity of the uncontrolled lightning fueled by his anger and sadness, running across the ground untamed, cracking, burning, the environment around him.

"_Hey! I heard you passed the test to enter ANBU! Congratulations!" Shisui cried out with a fake tear going down his cheek._

_Naruto just sweatdropped with a small smile, "It was tough, but now Itachi and I are on the same squad as Kakashi-nii. Yugao is also going to apply."_

"_Is that so? Well, I hope for the best. Now we've got to celebrate! Let's get Itachi and go ham on the city!" Shisui cried out with that typical grin on his face._

_Naruto sighed and knew he wasn't going to let this go, and simply let himself get dragged along to go get Itachi._

His lips started trembling with a scowl on his face. All his facial features twitching with his eyes narrowing dangerously and becoming more and more feral. The lightning around his fist tearing apart the ground beneath him as the uncontrolled anger and sadness spread throughout his body. The color of the lightning morphed, changing more and more into an unusual white color.

"_Pssst, Naruto! I got something for your birthday!" Shisui whispered as he entered the blond's apartment through the window._

_Naruto, who had been busy working on some seals, raised a brow at the older boy. They had been celebrating his birthday at the Uchiha compound a few hours prior. And he had already received a gift._

"_I already got your gift, what do you mean?" He asked curiously as Shisui entered and closed the window. Quickly pulling all the curtains shut as he looked carefully around him._

_Smirking as the coast as clear, Shisui reached into his pocket and pulled an orange book out of his pocket, "The greatest work of Jiraiya-sama! The Icha Icha Paradise, and it's all yours!"_

_Naruto blushed and snatched the book out his hand and looked terrified around him, "Are you crazy?! If Oba-chan finds this then I'm dead!"_

"_So you don't want it?" Shisui smirked and nudged the blond in the side with his elbow._

"_I didn't say that…"_

It didn't make any sense. Shisui was always smiling. He had always been that grinning cheerful plague. Always been that moron that had been cheering him on. Always had his back no matter what. Shisui had always been there for him, despite how annoying he could be, but that was what made them so good friends.

'_Wait, he killed himself yesterday… If I hadn't held back in Kusa… If I just hadn't taken my time… I should just have come home! I could... I could have stopped this! It's all my fault! If I had been here for him.. then I could have saved his life.' _Naruto thought to himself as the tears streamed more and more down his face. The usual smiling face of Shisui in the back of his mind as the lightning coating his trembling hand started turning grey. The electric sparks running up and down his arm as the pressure in the air got more intense. The ground trembling beneath him.

"_Hey, Naruto? Can I tell you something?" Shisui asked in a rare calm tone as the two sat enjoying their lunch on a pair of branches above the academy where they were watching the next generation of Shinobi getting tortured by the instructors._

_Naruto paused his eating and pulled the onigiri he had been enjoying down. "Sure, tell away."_

"_I've come to the conclusion. That you're my best friend!" Shisui just smiled. No grin or teasing smirk on his face. Just a genuine smile._

_Naruto blushed slightly as he put the onigiri down on the paper he had unfolded it from, "W-Why are you saying stuff like that all of a sudden?"_

"_I felt like you deserved to know it. You're my best friend."_

_Naruto blinked and punched the older boy's shoulder, "I think it's fairly obvious that you're my best friend too, you moron."_

The last memory was the final straw. Naruto cried out in despair as the lightning around his clenched fist exploded with intense chakra. The gray morphed into a black as dark as the infinite abyss. With hectic breathing, Naruto's arm trembled before he, unable to hold back, reared his fist at blinding speeds.

Thrusting his fist toward the huge boulder he had been resting against, Naruto's thoughts wandered, the world around him going in slow motion.

'_Shisui was my best friend…'_

Without thinking about his actions, he let the black lightning covered fist inch closer and closer to the boulder. The memories kept replaying before his eyes. Over and over again. The mere sense of time was gone. It felt like hours, yet barely a second passed. He kept seeing his face. That grinning moron's cheerful face.

'_He's… dead… because of me…'_

The tears stopped rolling down his face as he closed his eyes. Intense guilt spread all over his body. Every inch of his very being crying out. Pain, anger, sadness, and sorrow. All the emotions spread all over him. Unable to contain them, the size of the black lightning grew and formed into a sphere crackling with lightning strikes running all over the ground. The intensity of the chakra and power within his grasp causing a crater to explode under him. The skin on his hand arm started to smoke.

'_I failed him…'_

"**AAAAARRRGGGH!**"He roared out with his eyes snapping open to reveal a pitch black sclera, red irises, and a black slit for a pupil. Time sped up around him again as he roared out in despair, and he slammed his fist into the boulder. The lightning around his fist exploded into a huge beam of lightning, tearing the boulder into dust, but it didn't stop there. The beam of terrifying black lightning kept going on its destructive path. Tearing up the ground, burning the grass and every tree in its path to charcoal.

As the black lightning beam enveloped the forest, it suddenly exploded backward, as if it hit an invisible wall. Smoke permeated the area before being blown away as a rabid Naruto charged towards the _'wall' _in order to destroy it, only to be sent flying as a black staff slammed into his face. Raw, unbridled anger rushed through Naruto as he snarled before a familiar voice made him still.

"Well, I did promise a fight, now come at me and take your beating. It's time for you to snap out of your extended tantrum."

* * *

**Would you look at that? Hiruzen kept his promise in the end. My question is now however, how do you think it turns out? A black lightning powered Naruto against the might of the third Hokage?**

**What is your opinion of black lightning?**

**Oh and also, I wanted to ask something. I have thought of creating a new story, and I would like a challenge I guess. So what I would like for you to do, if you have a minute or two to spare, is to write me a review, with a story you would LOVE to see done. You pick everything, pairing, elements, timeline, age, you name it. And, I'll pick the one I like the most and try it out. Sounds good? Let me know your ideas!**


	9. Naruto vs Hiruzen

_**Chapter 9 - Naruto vs. Hiruzen.**_

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**Pairing: Naruto x Uchiha Mikoto. **

**THIS WILL ****NOT**** BE A HAREM**

**A/N: I post updates regarding the story on my Twitter. So, if you want to be prepared for when chapters come out, I'm always announcing how far I am with the stories in good time. My Twitter: Skairipa1337.**

**Question: Would you guys be more interested in a Minato and Kushina alive story? Or a Dark Naruto story, kind of Anakin Skywalker inspired main character.**

**The long-awaited fight versus Hiruzen has arrived. I hope you like how it turned out. **

**Warning: The main character's age has been adjusted.**

* * *

_The Former Training Ground._

* * *

Hiruzen's eyes softened as the beam of black onyx lightning dispersed around his staff. How had it come this far? It shouldn't have. Not in a million years. The person in front of him didn't resemble his grandson. Not one bit. There was only a wild animal in front of him.

His old eyes stared on at the rabid beast that was glaring in his direction as he stood in the middle of the burning inferno of a forest fire. The grass that used to be beneath them, gone, leaving behind a wasteland of dirt and gravel with the fire crackling around them, tearing down the forest.

With a soft sigh, Hiruzen lifted his adamantine staff, the lone eye giving away Enma's presence looking at the blond shinobi. "ANBU! Raise the barrier!" And as instructed, two squads of masked soldiers dropped down around them; only far enough away to give the two enough space for a battle.

With a round of 'hai' echoing about, an almost invisible dome-shaped barrier raised around them, as it kept the fires from spreading. The area that they used to call a training ground withered away, leaving behind a sight resembling that of a warzone. And Hiruzen would know, having lived through all the former wars, from the first to the third.

Hiruzen sighed to himself as he grasped his hands tightly around the transformed staff; the monkey king's voice booming to him, "Hiruzen… what's the plan?" The question didn't push many thoughts through the man's head. There was only one goal in mind. To save Naruto from himself.

The power that the blond was displaying was beyond his control in his current state, and it was only getting more and more out of hand by the second. The streaks of black lightning ran up and down the blond's limbs, streaking across the ground; ripping it even further open, and burning down more and more of the once beautiful green forest. And in its wake, lay a raging inferno surrounding the two.

It was, however, evident that Naruto was struggling, fighting to get himself under control. His entire face was trembling, the morphed colors in his eyes shifting between this enraged state and his usual azure ones.

A small smile crawled onto Hiruzen's face as he pointed the large staff in the blond's direction. The soft gaze in his eyes confused the enraged shinobi as the old man spoke through a calm tone, "Then bring it, boy, show me what one of Konoha's best has to offer! Don't hold back! Bring it on!"

The words echoed in Naruto's empty mind. Putting down any semblance of struggle as his eyes shifted permanently back into the black and red version. The uncontrolled and untamed lightning intensified all around his body, creating a cloak that sparked and roared out around him as his entire form shook.

Hiruzen's eyes scanned through Naruto's form repeatedly. He looked evil and filled with so much hate. But, Naruto wasn't evil. He was kind and good. He had only ever wanted the best for everyone, but kami never seemed to give him any peace. He lost so many people, and always in the worst ways possible, yet he constantly stayed true to himself and his nation, but as the saying went. It was always the good ones that get hurt.

It seemed like all the grief and all his tucked away sadness and anger had finally had reached their breaking point. Naruto needed to release these emotions, as he had kept them bottled up for so long that he was now a bomb set to burst. Always trying to be brave, trying to be the best of himself for everyone, it was time for him to take care of himself.

Hiruzen lowered his gaze briefly as a lone thought rang throughout his mind, _'You truly are a kind one…' _But there was no more time left to waste. It had to be now or never. Or else he feared that he would lose the blond to his inner demons.

With that last thought leaving his mind, his eyes widened quickly as Naruto disappeared in an instant, but the insane amount of uncontrolled chakra was easy enough for an experienced shinobi to track. Lifting his adamantine staff toward his left, he blocked a fist that was crackling with heavy amounts of chakra with the staff.

The punch created a large shockwave upon impact, such that the terrain behind Hiruzen ripped open and flew several yards away, the roots of trees almost entirely pulled out of the ground by the force alone, yet Hiruzen's kept a stable footing.

Narrowing his eyes, he snorted tauntingly, "Is that the best you have to offer?" And as intended, it got a rise out of rabid ninja. A huge scowl formed on the blond's face as he flashed out of existence, speeding all over the training ground like a streak of black lightning, more and more resembling a lightning bolt.

And as a loud thunderclap echoed all over the crater, Hiruzen grunted as he swirled the staff about him. Naruto's racing form appeared everywhere and nowhere, and with every hit blocked the blond had vanished and appeared elsewhere. Hiruzen didn't even get to see the face of this menacing form of black lightning.

As he sensed the tremendous chakra above him, Hiruzen quickly leaped away, barely getting the time to land before the streak of lightning slammed right into the ground where he had been standing a moment before.

The ground exploded in a shower of boulders and rocks, pillars of black lightning rushed through the field, ripping it all to dust and rubbish.

Hiruzen raised an arm to block the dust and small rocks from his eyes. When had Naruto gained this much power? He had never seen nor heard of anything like it. No mission report or anything of the like had mentioned a word about this. Black lightning was extremely rare. It was said that the Sandaime Raikage had been able to use it, but Naruto was from Konoha.

'_Could it be the Kyuubi?' _Hiruzen mused as he flipped sideways to dodge another headfirst attack, immediately turning around on his feet to slam the staff into Naruto's back, sending the blond crashing through the burnt trees. The burned wood splintering, sending embers and chunks of wood flying all around the path he had sent his surrogate flying in.

'_No, I don't sense that much Kyuubi chakra present in his attacks. This is his own power, but how did he gain this much strength? If he could control it… maybe I would have to focus on defending.' _The man finished his line of thought as he tucked his stuff up under his arm, extending his free hand forward with his palm facing toward the torn down trees.

The morphed monkey king staff extended in size at blinding speeds, rushing at the blond's location, and the enraged shinobi was barely able to raise his hands to block the staff when it was an inch away from his chest. Venom dripped from his eyes as he glared daggers into the man that was attacking him as he grabbed onto the staff, unable to recognize his Jiji.

Sighing, Hiruzen took a firm grip of the staff before hurling it sideways with the blond still clinging to it. The feral ninja crashed through multiple boulders and trees until he was forced to let go, rolling across the ground into a crawling position.

"**Grrr" **He snarled as he lifted his face. The red irises glowing brighter as a dome of black lightning bolts exploded about him, the air around them becoming denser as it was filled with more and more chakra.

With shaky movements, Naruto got to his feet with his hand slowly rearing into the air, and, with an earth-shattering roar, sent it flying forward. Following the blond's fist, the dome of black lightning dispersed into dozens of lightning bolts striking through the air at speeds a normal shinobi would never be able to react to.

The old man threw his staff a few feet into the air and easily dodged the majority of the bolts, all the while going through hand seals at blinding speeds. And as last bolt neared him, Hiruzen spat out a huge current of water and bent it toward the lightning bolt, making the water become a conduit for the lightning to pass through, before he redirected it back towards the blond.

Eyes widening in shock, the feral blond stood, surprised at the change of events, as moments later he found his own attack crashing right into his body, giving him a nice ride back for a few dozen yards before he finished, ending up onto his stomach.

With a loud growl of anger, Naruto stumbled back onto his feet with heavy breathing. His back slumped over as the sweaty blond locks swayed over his forehead, covering and revealing his eyes as they swayed past them.

Thrusting his hands before him, he placed his palms one above the other, leaving a small space in between as he grit his teeth. His chakra immediately spiked as a sphere of black lightning build up between his hands, his hands slowly distancing from the other as the sphere built up rapidly in size.

Moments later, gravity suddenly increased around the blond ninja, as he found himself sinking into the ground. Simultaneously, the black sphere that had rapidly grown in size found itself halting, before slowly and slowly reverting and size.

Hiruzen's eyes widened as a deep black sphere of roaring chakra formed between Naruto's hands, the size growing from that of a Rasengan to what would more resemble a dozen of them... Or more. And yet, all of that was condensed, back into the size of a Rasengan.

Quickly slipping his hands through a dozen more hand seals, Hiruzen took a deep breath as his chest swelled in size, intense amounts of chakra building up within his core.

When the feral beast became satisfied with his beautiful weapon of destruction, he thrust the sphere forward. The sphere then exploded into an enormous spear of roaring black lightning, racing across the field at seemingly impossible speeds toward the Hokage, the intent to kill bleeding off of the attack.

The Hokage caught his staff, that he had thrown moments before, under his arm as muttered to himself, **"Fire Release: Great Blaze Ball!" **before slumping his back over and exhaling a high-pressure stream of burning hot white fire that was melting the rocks and boulders in its path as it scorched over the ground. The fire coalesced into an inferno that rapidly approached the lance of black lightning.

The two highly offensive attacks clashed midway into a massive explosion with runaway sparks and flames flying all over the space between them as the attacks duked it out.

After a few seconds of fighting, the two attacks canceled out the other. Waves of heat flew all over the field as both the lightning and the fire combined during the intense exchange.

Naruto's eyes momentarily closed as his attack was effortlessly forced to a draw. Snapping his eyes open, he clenched his fists tightly while letting out another roar. The loud roar applied even more pressure around him, bending the ground out around him as the devilish cloak of black lightning increased in size, and every now and then, a lightning bolt would separate from his cloak crashing wildly around him.

Outside of the barrier, Itachi landed alongside Genma and Yugao. His eyes quickly widened as he ran up to the barrier, placing his palms against the almost invisible dome that surrounded the Hokage and his best friend, who was fighting in what looked like an all-out battle within a warzone.

Turning his face to one of the ANBU guards that were holding up the barrier, Itachi didn't even have to ask to realize what was happening inside. It was exactly what he had feared, but he had never expected the outcome to be this bad. The Hokage was battling his best friend, with the latter looking more animal than man.

Yugao gulped slightly as she took a step back from the barrier. She couldn't believe that it was her _teammate_ that was in there. She couldn't recognize him, aside from his appearance. It was like an intruder had taken over his body, controlling his every move. Could it be the Kyuubi?

Genma on the other hand found it extremely difficult to keep himself calm as he ran up and slammed his fist into the barrier, "Naruto! What the hell are you doing?! You realize that that's the Hokage that you are fighting! STOP THIS!" He yelled out with the veins on his throat popping out, his teeth gritting tightly together as he watched those dark eyes turn to face him.

Naruto, who was covered in lightning as black as Madara's soul, turned his face toward the noise before flashing right in front of the barrier. Genma gasped and stumbled a few feet back as Naruto reared his hand back, craning his fingers back into the shape of a claw as the black lightning wrapped all around his hand, forming black claws around the tips.

And without a single moment of hesitation or even a hint of expression, he slammed his hand into the barrier.

The claws slowly dug through the barrier, and one of the ANBU was sent flying back from the sudden force that began fighting the barrier. The claw tips slowly made their way through the dome.

Hiruzen's eyes widened as he thrust his staff forward, the tip extending at rapid speeds just to slam right into Naruto's spine, making the blond's body smash right into the invisible wall. The man took this chance to go on the offense. Them fighting was one thing, but if Naruto was so far lost in his despair that he would attack anything that dared to stand up to him, then he couldn't afford to passively sit on the matter.

With a blur, Hiruzen leaped up beside Naruto, his staff back in the normal shape as he slammed it into the blond's scalp, making him crash into the ground before Hiruzen swirled around on his feet, dragging the tip of the staff across the ground and striking Naruto across the chin, sending the blond swirling into the air with a trail of lightning following him.

The blond grit his teeth tightly together as blood ran down the corner of his mouth, and with a loud grunt, a large burst of lightning stopped his swirling and he paused in mid-air. With hectic breathing, the blond gazed down upon them from the top of the dome, his eyes glaring daggers upon the old Sarutobi.

Yugao's eyes widened even more as her mouth gaped open, "He's flying…"

The words brought Genma out of his shock as he snapped his head up to look at Naruto who was indeed _flying_ at the top of the dome. The lightning rapidly bursting around his body as he flickered around in place, the cloak keeping him from falling down.

With a loud, desperate roar, Naruto thrust his arms forward over and over, with each aggressive swing a bolt of lightning escaped from around his arms to fly down toward Hiruzen.

Hiruzen spun around on his feet and threw his staff into the first bolt before rapidly rushing through hand seals, **"Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation!" **Hiruzen's chest swelled up again before he exhaled a huge flamethrower that was racing up to meet each of the lightning bolts.

Loud explosions shook the ground as the attacks clashed again, and again. Large smoke clouds filled with embers and sparks filled the air as Hiruzen caught his staff with ease.

With a grunt, Hiruzen, once again, extended the staff through the smoke clouds created by the explosions, making it rush into the blond's face before Enma extended his arms out of the staff, grasping a hold of the blond's wrists to keep him locked in place, a lone eye gazed out at the blond from the end of the staff.

Naruto glared at the monkey paws keeping his arm in place before his dark gaze turned to stare into the sole eye that gazed back at him. He roared out in anger as the cloak of lightning, once more, exploded in size, and the dark lightning wrapping around Enma's arms, burning the monkey king's hair and skin instantly.

With a loud yelp of pain, Hiruzen's personal summon hurriedly let go of the blond with his arms smoking, and with a glare, he watched Naruto blitz toward the ground, landing with a loud rumble. But before the blond could react or throw any counter-attacks, he was surrounded by Hiruzen, along with four clones, that had appeared out of nowhere, who all had their mouth open, ready to exhale an attack.

Not giving the Uzumaki time to react, Hiruzen and his clones spat out a stream of each of the five elements respectively, and currents of water, fire, earth, wind, and lightning crashed into Naruto's form before they exploded on impact. The explosion created a large cloud that covered the blond from their field of vision before the clones popped out of existence.

Hiruzen waved his adamantine staff into the cloud to push it out of his view, looking into the cloud's remains, _'Did I overdo it?' _He mused to himself. Naruto might have been on a rampage and had attempted to escape the barrier to attack his teammates, but he was still his surrogate grandson. And as much as the blond seemed at fault for this, the village was just as bad. Many Shinobi had gone mad from experiencing, and making it through dangerous and traumatizing missions, but it was also within the village's responsibility to make sure that they got help.

'_If I just had noticed in time, we wouldn't even be here…' _Hiruzen sighed with a small frown before his eyes suddenly widened in surprise as the cloud dispersed to reveal Naruto still standing on his legs. His clothes may have been torn to shreds, and he was barely hanging onto his body, but he was still standing.

With a loud growl, Naruto threw both his palms up into the air, channeling his newfound powers up above, rapidly forming it into a huge black lightning sphere, even bigger than the one he had created before.

Hiruzen blinked before he threw his staff in front of him, Enma cloning himself to form a protective wall of the adamantine staff, "That's not going to end well…" The old man muttered mostly to himself, as he watched with fascination.

The blond gave a slight grunt as he kept pushing more chakra into it, the size rapidly growing by the second as his cloak started to fade back into normal lightning, so the black lightning could focus on fueling the huge sphere above him.

But it didn't go as planned. The huge black sphere began spiraling out of control, just as Hiruzen had predicted. The black sphere bent and distorted, and began to toss lightning all about, the size still growing as the blond lost all semblance of control, and a small streak of black lightning cut through his normal lightning cloak, burning the remains of his shirt to nothing.

What happened next could only be expected. The black sphere exploded above him, tearing down through his left arm and forcing him to cry out in pain. His body stumbled over, and the feral hostility in his eyes disappeared, and he clutched his arm against his body in a failed attempt at lessening the pain. Charred and burned smoke emitted from his entire body, with the worst of it centering at his arm. The ground beneath him broke into a huge crater as he fell to his knees.

Naruto's vision slowly started returning to him as he looked around him with some semblance of consciousness. The pain in his arm quickly becoming overbearing as his vision became blurry and he fell down sideways. Crashing into the ground, his eyes struggled to stay open, and he managed to notice a dark blurry figure walking toward him with a staff in hand just before he passed out.

Hiruzen ran over to Naruto as the lightning cloak started to fade back into the blond's body, Hiruzen unsummoned Enma and fell down beside the blond. Pushing him onto his back, he quickly checked his pulse. Thankfully, his surrogate grandson was still alive.

The barrier that the ANBU had formed earlier began to slowly disperse as the masked men closed in around them. Genma and Yugao stood close behind Hiruzen as they worriedly looked at their teammate over, not liking the shape that it was in. His body was smoking, and his entire left arm was black from the severe burning.

Itachi kept himself at a distance as a frown made its way onto his face. He unconsciously clenched his fist while gritting his teeth, whilst somehow keeping the stoic Uchiha mask on the exterior. _'If it hadn't been for the Uchiha's ignorance… This would have also never happened. Had the clan kept their arrogance and pride in check, Shisui would still be alive, and Naruto wouldn't be so torn apart, both mentally and physically…'_

Waltzing behind a tree, Itachi leaned in against the bark as he softly punched against the bark of the tree, _'Damn you, Tou-sama… Danzo... This shouldn't have happened!' _

Hiruzen, after checking Naruto over, took a step back and pointed his hand toward a masked man with silver hair, "INU! Get Naruto-kun to the hospital! Make sure our best medics are on the job, he needs immediate treatment!"

The ANBU operative 'Inu' quickly nodded and scooped the blond up in his arms, shunshining out of the area, with nary a swirl of wind and leaves in his place.

* * *

Itachi watched Naruto get taken away from the scene with a frown on his face. Half of his body hidden away from sight by the tree as he gave a small sigh. He had to let the two Uzumaki hear of this before they got too worried and would start looking around for him. It wasn't common knowledge yet, but Itachi suspected that Naruto would keep them close to him. And since his apartment wasn't the biggest place. There was only one place left he could take them, to his knowledge at least.

His parents' old estate.

And it would make sense. A lot of construction workers and cleaners had been fixing up the place for the last passing week. '_What else could Naruto be using that place for, if not to keep his family close and secure?'_

With that last thought leaving his mind, Itachi shunshined out of the area and landed close to the gate leading into the large property formerly owned by their late Yondaime Hokage and his late wife.

Pushing the gate open, Itachi walked on the broad path leading up to the main entrance.

The house itself was quite large. It had a double-door as the main entrance, with a wooden porch leading all the way around the house. The house was two stories tall, with a nice large garden going around the house. Surrounding the garden was a wooden face a bit taller than he was. Probably in place to keep prying eyes out.

The last noticeable feature from the outside was the training grounds. There were two of them in total, one on the left side, and one on the right side.

Itachi reached the doors as he finished looked around the place. Raising his hand, he knocked on the door with the back of his hand before letting his arm fall back down to his side.

A few moments later, the older redheaded woman slowly opened the door and looked up at him with surprise evident in her eyes, "Itachi-san, what do I owe this visit? Naruto hasn't returned yet."

Itachi just nodded his head and opened his mouth to answer, "I'm aware of that, and I'm here to talk about that. Naruto is currently in the hospital. Disturbing news made him, _uneasy_, and the simple conclusion I can give you without asking for permission is that you shouldn't expect him around for a few days."

"H-Hospital? Is he alright?" Akari asked with shock as she stepped out of the house, so her daughter wouldn't hear any details that a child shouldn't.

Itachi could just shrug as an answer. Truthfully he was unaware of whether or not Naruto would be okay again. He had just lost a good friend, and his mind was already corrupted with dark thoughts before that. And that was before considering his medical situation. Naruto had been struck by lightning rumored to only have been used by the Sandaime Raikage before and had been rushed to the hospital right after.

"I'm currently unaware of his condition. However, I'll keep you posted. Have a nice evening Uzumaki-san, try not to worry too much about Naruto-kun." Itachi bowed politely before bidding the Uzumaki woman farewell for the evening. Leaving many thoughts to go through her head, and emotions through her being.

* * *

Naruto's vision flickered in and out as he watched up at the lights passing over his face. His body was in motion, and he could hear running footsteps around him as he slightly tilted his head to the side. A man and a woman wearing all white were pushing him through some hallways. He had to be in the hospital.

'_Great, the hospital. I just __**love**__ this place…' _He thought to himself as he slightly shifted in place, a loud grunt escaping his lips as pain rushed through his arm, making him place it against his chest as he almost fell over the edge of the stretcher that they were pushing him on.

"The sedatives are already wearing off! The fox must be fighting them, get Uzumaki-sama a new dose!" The female roared out as a nurse came sprinting to his side, a syringe in her hand as she pushed the needle into his chest.

'_I really like hospitals. Especially when there is at least a hundred feet between me and it. Damn it, I'm going to have to sneak out again, aren't I?' _He thought to himself as his vision faded away again, his mind drifting back into unconsciousness.

When he woke the next time, he had no idea of how long he had been out. His body felt more… normal, but his arm was still hurting beyond imagination. He had never felt pain like this before. Just what had happened?

Flickering his eyes open slowly, he turned his head around, and upon noticing the bland colors on him denoted that it was the sheets of the hospital. Groaning softly, he raised himself into a sitting position. Looking down over his body, he scoffed at the hospital clothes that they had forced him into. Lifting his right, specifically not hurting, hand, he tucked his shirt up to reveal his abdomen that was covered in bandages all the way up.

Gazing down his right arm, he noticed he was also patched up all the way down, even his fingers were getting the special treatment. Groaning again, he leaned down and bit his teeth into the bandage and tore it off his arm and spat it onto the ground.

He truly despised hospitals. He admired and respected the people that worked here, especially for what they did for people, but he couldn't stand being in one. The bland walls and surroundings, and that damn sterile smell that was everywhere. It was worse than the smell that a classroom had, which was saying something…

As he looked out the window, he let his mind wander. _'Shisui…' _He sighed to himself, and a sudden rush of memories came rushing back to him. They weren't clear, but he could understand enough.

It looked like a warzone, but no war was being fought. He could see his grandfather figure in his battle gear, deflecting attacks upon attacks. It looked like lightning, but why was it black?

The more memories he went through, the more clear it became to him that it was _him_ that was fighting his grandfather figure. He could feel the anger he had felt when he had fought. No… Not anger. Guilt.

Palming his forehead, he gritted his teeth together before he tossed the hospital sheets away and swung his legs over the edge of the bed and leaped onto the floor. A small jolt of pain rushed up through his left arm as he landed, making him regret the jump, but nothing more.

With a loud and deep sigh, he slowly raised his left arm up with shaky movement. He naturally healed fast, which was obvious, especially since the majority of his body was already fine again, but his left arm was still damaged. That last attempted attack had really backfired on him.

Shaking his head free of the thoughts, he waltzed over to a sink and turned the tap on. Lowering his face toward the sink, he raised his right hand and gathered some water in his palm that he then used to wash over his face before grabbing a paper towel to wipe it dry again.

Lifting his head up, he looked to his side and spotted a calendar. Curiously he pulled the thing off the wall and looked down at it, intending to figure out how long he had been out.

Three days since he departed from Yu no Kuni to get back here… He had been out for two to three days in total, then...

He gave a dry chuckle as he hung the thing up on the wall again. To keep him sedated and out cold for that long must have certainly required a lot.

Deciding he didn't really want to stay here, he walked over to a closet and opened it to find only a pair of pants. _'Oh yeah… my clothes didn't agree with my fight.' _He groaned with annoyance. He had just bought those.

Extending his hand into the closet, he pulled his pants out and cringed at the smell. It smelled like smoke and dirt, and the thing was torn and ripped everywhere. With a pout, he tossed the object that had at one time been a comfortable pair of pants into the trashcan in the corner of the room.

Closing the closet again, he jumped up and opened the window to reveal the dark night sky. After looking around him a few times, he shunshined away from the hospital as fast as possible. As he rushed through the empty streets of Konoha in his hospital clothes. He made sure not to get spotted. He really wanted to avoid any questions right now, or worse, being forced to return to the _hospital_.

When he finally got back to his apartment, he quietly slipped in through the front door and closed it behind him. As the door closed with an audible click, he turned the lock and sighed to himself before turning on the lights. As the lights flickered on, he grabbed the edges of his hospital shirt and threw it into a trashcan. His pants soon followed. Now in his birthday suit, he went into his bedroom and slumped headfirst into his bed. His head landing heavily against the pillow as sleep almost in an instant claimed him. The darkness closing in on his eyes until a soft sound of peaceful snoring sound throughout the dark bedroom.

* * *

**Well, that took a while. I've started back in school, and the heat has been insane the last few days so I've had zero energy nor motivation to do anything at all. However, I have some time off this weekend and decided to finish this chapter before the wait became too long.**

**Question 1: As always, I like asking you guys a question or two. Who is your favorite pairing? I'm asking since; last time I asked you guys about story ideas, a lot of you had a pairing added to the idea. (Obviously) Which made me curious, who is your favorite?**

**Question 2: Did you enjoy the fight? I tried making it realistic. **

**Mine is Mikoto. No shame admitting that, she is by far the best after my own opinion. **


	10. Massacre

_**Chapter 10 - Massacre.**_

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**Pairing: Naruto x Uchiha Mikoto. **

**THIS WILL ****NOT**** BE A HAREM**

**A/N: I post updates regarding the story on my Twitter. So, if you want to be prepared for when chapters come out, I'm always announcing how far I am with the stories in good time. My Twitter: Skairipa1337.**

**Damn, chapter 10 already. Time sure does fly by, and I appreciate each and every one of you guys reading this story. Your support is amazing, and I'll try to keep pleasing you guys with this work as much as I can. Even if time is against me with school weighing me down.**

**Warning: The main character's age has been adjusted.**

* * *

_Naruto's Apartment._

* * *

The next time Naruto opened his eyes, you would suspect that he would be met by the bright morning sun and the blue sky. However, it was the complete opposite.

When his eyes flickered open, they were met by a dark night sky and the stars that were filling through his window. Groaning to himself, he rolled into a sitting position with his back slumped over. A loud yawn escaped his lips as he stretched out his sore muscles and body.

As he started to feel more awake, he slowly lifted himself from his sitting position onto the bed and then onto his feet. Walking up to the window, he pulled the curtain away to look out over the village.

'_The moon is higher in the sky than last time I woke up. I must have slept for at least an entire day then. Quite surprising, the Hospital hasn't bound me with ropes and dragged me back screaming with them yet.' _He chuckled dryly to himself before pulling the curtains shut again.

With a sigh, he slumped down onto a chair. These days had been too much, and he had a feeling in his gut that told him it wasn't going to get better anytime soon. Letting out a heavy breath, he leaned his head against the chair and stared at the top of his dresser. More specifically, the picture frames that were placed there.

There were quite a few of them. All of them being of people that _are_ important to him. His family. His old team. The Uchiha family; specifically Sasuke, Mikoto, and Itachi. And of course, the final picture. _Shisui_.

With a frown he clenched his left fist, only to grunt in pain as his flesh felt like it was about to fall off.

He was starting to feel empty. He knew he had people in his life, still, but he questioned for how long. Everyone around him died left and right. His family, his squad members, and even Shisui had fallen to the Shinigami.

Rubbing his face, he stood up from the chair and waltzed into the kitchen. Without even bothering to turn on the lights, he started to fill a cup with water to alleviate his dry throat. After finishing a glass, he placed the cup down and stared at his wobbly reflection in the metallic sink.

Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, he turned his head toward the fridge. All the food in there was probably the same as him; rotten. As he was about to open it, he came to a stop as a note was hanging on the metal door. Raising a brow, he pulled the note down and pulled it up to his eyes to read it.

'_I figured you wouldn't stay in the hospital for long. You primarily needed rest, so its probably for the best that you are staying somewhere that makes you feel at ease. Akari and Karin are doing well. Akari has gotten herself a job at a grocery store close to the Yamanaka estate so she could earn some money to get essentials ready for when you came around. I don't know when you'll read this note, but please come around the tower. We have much to discuss. - Jiji.' _

_P.S: Shisui's funeral was yesterday. You were still at the hospital, and with how long he's been dead, it wouldn't be proper to delay it any longer. Once you are feeling better, you can pay your respects at his grave._

Naruto's entire face became morose as he threw the note into the trash. He had missed the funeral. The funeral of his best friend. As if he wasn't a failure already...

He couldn't stop Shisui from dying. He couldn't even stop himself from going on a major rampage when he found out. And now, he couldn't even be present at his funeral. Perhaps that was this was about. He probably was being punished. Karmic justice, really. He lost control, and his very rampage led to him disrespecting his friend.

Scowling, he looked down at his arm in disdain. His eyes trailed along the bandages that were covering him from beneath his shoulder and all the way down to his fingers. He had an unusual, freakish, healing factor to many, and even to himself. He would heal almost in an instant, with heavy wounds disappearing in only a matter of a couple of hours.

Yet, the damage to his arm wasn't even gone after all this time. Of course, it wasn't hurting as much anymore, and he could somewhat move his hand and arm without a lot of trouble.

His chakra, on the other hand, was a complete and utter mess. It felt like his chakra network was on _fire_. An extremely mild fire, but a fire nonetheless; regardless, he had a gut feeling that he shouldn't try and channel any chakra unless he wanted to hug the ground for a few, loud, hours.

However, he could only truly blame himself for this. _He _had lost control and hurt himself in the process. No one to blame but himself, and besides, he deserved this. Better for him to hurt himself, especially after wasting so much time.

Regardless, flesh wounds were one thing as they healed quickly, but damage to the chakra network was slow and arduous. While it would still heal quickly for him, he would need to rest for a few days. And if the damage was as severe as he thought, then he might be incapacitated for a week or two.

Turning his head back toward the dresser, Naruto sighed softly as his eyes rested on the pictures of the Uchiha family. _'I wonder how Itachi is doing…' _He thought to himself. Shisui and Naruto had been great friends, but Itachi had also been really close to Shisui. He was without a doubt hurting, maybe even more than him, even if he wouldn't show it to others. Itachi never was one for showcasing his emotions, was he?

Sighing for what felt like the hundredth time this night, Naruto wandered over to his dresser and pulled out a pair of black pants and a matching sleeveless shirt. He took his time getting dressed, finishing his simple outfit with a cloak to shield him from the cold air. The winter months were coming, so the nights were getting especially cold these days. Perhaps there would even be snow this year.

Looking up at his clock, he noticed that it was around seven. If he wanted to visit the graveyard to say his final goodbye, as well as to catch Itachi before the Uchiha went to sleep, he would have to get moving. So, without further delays, Naruto left through the front door and started making his way through the night.

* * *

The first place that he found himself in was at the dark graveyard. Standing with a blank face, he read the name on the gravestone over and over. _Uchiha Shisui_. Like almost everyone else that had gotten too close to him, the older boy had ended up seven feet under.

He couldn't understand it. Nothing made sense. Nothing added up anymore. Shisui had been happy, smiling, and fooling around like no tomorrow. How could he have killed himself? It was beyond Naruto's understanding. Just like what was going on with the Uchiha was also becoming incomprehensible.

Fugaku always hated the sight of him. However, their last two encounters had been almost _friendly_. Not to mention the behavior of the gate guards. He had _always_ been welcome in the compound. Yet, the last time he came over, he was almost stabbed with a kunai for daring to visit his friends.

It hurt his head to think about it. He couldn't handle all of the confusion in his head. Clapping his hands together in front of his chest, Naruto closed his eyes and stood in silence, taking the time to pay his last respects to his fallen friend.

"May Kami be kind to you and give you peace, and may you have infinite ramen in the afterlife, my friend," Naruto whispered softly as he opened his eyes and let his arms fall to his side. A lone tear falling from both of his eyes as he said his goodbye.

Even after saying goodbye. Naruto stayed put for a while. Almost as if he had to make up for not being at the funeral.

After an hour had passed, Naruto finally felt like he had to get moving. If he wanted to catch Itachi before the Uchiha could go to sleep, he had to move now. With one last bow to the gravestone, Naruto walked out of the graveyard slowly, before leaping across the rooftops again. The wind rushed through his locks as he raced through the streets.

The village was quiet tonight. Normally there would be all kinds of noises from the party districts and bars. However, the nightlife seemed to be a bit... dead tonight. _'What can I say, it's a workday tomorrow.' _Naruto mused to himself as he gracefully landed on top of the Uchiha district wall.

This place was even more _strange_. It was _dead_ quiet. Not a single sound to be heard anywhere. Not a single light in any of the houses. It wasn't _that_ late, and he sincerely doubted the entire compound would decide to sleep that early. Even the guards seemed to be missing...

At the sudden sound of soft running footsteps, Naruto raised a brow as he watched the running form of one Uchiha Sasuke speeding into the Uchiha compound. _'What was he doing out this late? And with his schoolbag of all things.' _Naruto thought confused as he leaped off the wall and walked after the young Uchiha, intending to ask him those very questions until his eyes eventually landed on a horrifying sight that he never wished to see again within the walls of Konoha...

He had almost managed to reach the boy before he heard him scream loudly, followed by him suddenly changing directions. Naruto's eyes widened as he ran to follow, turning around a corner at high speeds until his body stopped moving at the sight before him.

There was blood everywhere. The entire compound was unerringly quiet, as the usual life that noisily generated sound was laying about, slaughtered everywhere. Bloody corpses lathered and draped themselves across the ground. Their blood splattered over the walls and ground as their bodies laid motionlessly on the dirt. Each and every corpse had one thing in common. The Uchiha crest was clearly present on their backs.

Naruto had to stop himself from falling on his knees. All of his facial features were trembling as he stood uneasy in place. "W-What the hell is going on here?!" He hissed to himself as he ran over and checked the corpses.

They were all dead, but their bodies weren't entirely cold yet.

Steadying himself on his feet, he looked around him before breaking into a sprint as he rushed around the compound. Every street, house, and corner of the compound was filled with corpses. Blood was staining the ground and houses.

It was a _massacre_, but whoever had done this had to still be nearby.

Naruto kept running. His feet moving his tired body through the compound only to witness body... after body… lying dead on the ground.

As he got around the corner to get to the Military Police Force station, Naruto stopped running as a person came into view. However, this person wasn't familiar at all. And his appearance was extremely hostile. Laying dead at his feet was the girl that Naruto had come to know as Izumi. And in the stranger's hand, was a bloody rod.

Naruto's face fell into an angry scowl as he grit his teeth, "What the hell do you think you're doing?! Just who the hell do you think you are?!" He yelled at the top of his lungs, not even startling the stranger that casually turned around to reveal a masked face.

The man didn't say a word whatsoever as a Sharingan eye gazed at him from the lone hole in his mask.

Naruto quickly felt himself getting past his breaking point. This guy dared kill his surrogate family, and then proceeded to stand there like nothing was happening? This was unforgivable… Could this man be responsible for Shisui's death?

"ANSWER ME!" Naruto roared at the top of his lungs as he leaped off the ground, a kunai in his hand that he thrust straight toward the man's heart, but to Naruto's surprise, instead of seeing the man caved open by the sharp knife, or even seeing him avoiding the attack in some manner, he just let it phase right through him.

As if the man was made out of thin air, Naruto also found himself flying through his front and out of his back before he knew out, barely landing in time due to his surprise. The blond's scowling face looked on in surprise as he quickly turned around. Putting his guard up. he glared daggers into the man's skull as he yet again turned to face him.

"It's rather odd to expect an answer, and then try to kill the person you're questioning. Unless you can talk to the dead, or have a passing interest in necrophilia, you seem less intelligent than the average dead last academy student. Uzumaki Naruto." The man's voice was deep and booming, his tone calm and easy. Seemingly not phased at all.

"Who the hell are you, and why are you killing the Uchiha?!" Naruto yelled out as the man finally decided to open his mouth to speak instead of just standing there and ignoring him like yesterday's recluse.

The man hummed to himself as he tilted his head, "You can know me as Tobi if you really need an answer. How are you doing, _Naruto_? It's been some time since we've met. The last time I saw you, you were quite the golden goose."

Naruto gritted his teeth as he stared with other confusion. "What nonsense are you spouting now?"

"My, my, so rude. Are you still a _screamer_ by the way? Thanks again for being such a helpful ally. I never got the chance to thank you for disposing of the Yondaime, did I... he was an annoyance, so yeah, thanks." Tobi casually chatted as he crossed his arms behind his back in a relaxed manner, the red-eye calmly gazing in amusement at the enraged blond.

"Why you…" Naruto growled as he lept off the ground, dark blue lightning circling around his arm as he slammed it right into Tobi, but to no avail. The ground may have exploded into a huge cloud of dust and debris, but the madman was still standing there unaffected.

"Aren't you tired of this yet? This is starting to get old. But this is interesting. I never knew that you were such a fan of Danzo, to the extent that you'd even go out of your way to dress up as him? The cripple look suits you." Tobi sighed as he kicked Naruto in the chin, sending the blond flying through the air and into the Police Force's building. His back crashed against the wall before he slumped down on one knee, a small droplet of blood trickling down from the corner of his mouth.

"Shut up! And don't you dare talk about my father!" Naruto hissed through heavy breathing. His body wasn't completely healed, and he was still exhausted from the fight against Hiruzen. Not to mention that he may as well classify his left arm as useless.

"Why not? He died thanks to your wonderful efforts. It was truly pathetic, but you were quite the big brother too, weren't you? At the very least, you kept your family together in the end. Man of the world, in both flesh and blood." Tobi chuckled as he placed his hand on his hip.

Naruto's being started to shake as his eyes darkened. The blue irises turned red with his pupil turning into slits. His facial features grew more and more feral as he flew forward and, as expected, flew right through Tobi again before rolling across the ground.

"Are all Uzumaki this stupid? Your mother at least had more balls than you, to make up for her stupidity, but I guess that only ran in the females. To think that Minato left the village in your hands is beyond my understanding. Here I thought that he was supposed to be a genius or something, but he truly was foolish to the very end. Leaving his _precious_ village, of all things, in the hands of his weak incapable _disgrace_ of a son. Maybe he inherited the stupidity genes from your mother? Or was he always that stupid? " Tobi commented dryly as he turned to watch Naruto shake in place.

Tobi's words sunk deep into Naruto's heart. As if he hadn't thought these things a _million_ times to himself by now. He could insult him all he wanted, but if he dared to mock his parents. His and the village's heroes, then there would be _hell_ to pay.

"**SHUT UP!" **Naruto roared out as he got onto his feet. Anger and turmoil building within his core. Red chakra coalesced around him, permeating his entire body and forming a cloak as he tried to contain his anger.

Casually looking down at the ticking time-bomb, Tobi gleefully continued, "Ah, but seriously, at the bare minimum, you are great at prioritizing. Instead of caring about your friend, you spent the week chasing a drunkard across the country, then threw a tantrum, wonderful work, really. Are you sure you aren't related to Kakashi? Oh wait, he IS your big brother. That explains everything."

Tobi just chuckled as he looked up at the moon, "And would you look at the time. I'm afraid I can't play with you any longer, I have places to be. I'll leave the rest of the Uchiha and the _new Uzumaki_ in your _capable _hands. I'm sure that you'll do your big brother justice and cause your other friend's death too, no? Go for the heart this time, Kakashi would appreciate the sentimentality, But anyhow, Tata…" And just as quickly as the words had left his mouth, the man started swirling out of existence. Seemingly warping into the eyehole of his mask. Leaving no trace to be found.

Naruto grit his teeth in anger and slammed his fist into the ground, staring into the dirt. He had let the enemy getaway. He had failed. _Again._ And worse, he had been unable to refute a single thing the bastard had said.

The cloak began to dissipate as he got back up on his feet; a frown settled onto his face as he stared at the lifeless form of Uchiha Izumi. That girl and Itachi would probably have ended up together one day, but now that was just another dream that would never come true.

He hated this. He didn't understand a thing, everything was just going wrong. Shisui dies, then the Uchiha is massacred. And then this masked man… It reminded him of what his father had said to him before he died.

"_Look out for the man with a mask…"_

'_He's probably the person who Tou-san was talking about...' _Naruto thought to himself before his line of thought was interrupted by a loud scream. It sounded familiar.

His eyes widened suddenly as he spun around on his feet and ran toward the Uchiha estate, _'Sasuke! Shit, I got distracted. At least he's still alive if that scream is anything to go by!' _He had just seen the boy, and there was no way that masked freak could have gotten to him already.

And he never would. Naruto **wouldn't… Couldn't, **let that happen.

Closing his eyes for a second, they snapped open a moment later to reveal the very same menacing eyes that he had displayed in his fight against Hiruzen, his legs surrounded themselves with small streaks of black lightning that started to carry him at insane speeds toward the Uchiha family house that was quickly appearing in front of him.

"LEAVE HIM OUT OF THIS!" A feminine voice screamed out. And Naruto knew instantly who it was. It was Mikoto. She and Sasuke were still alive, he still had a job to do! He might have failed the rest of the clan but he would _die_ before he let anything happen to those two.

Speeding through the porch and front door, Naruto's view came in contact with Sasuke's back turned to him. Quickly he landed beside the young Uchiha and pressed a pressure point in his neck to make him pass out. If that masked freak truly was an Uchiha slaughtering his own clan, he wouldn't let him use any Genjutsu to fry Sasuke's brain.

And besides, best try to minimize whatever nightmares he suffers from this night...

Sasuke's body slumped over as his eyes slowly shut and his mind faded into unconsciousness. Naruto quickly grabbed him and laid the young boy down against the floor, his vision instantly snapping up. He was prepared to meet the masked man once again, but when his eyes landed on his teammate, the person who was practically a brother to him, his mind almost shut down.

There was _Itachi. _His clothes and sword drenched in blood as he stood over his father's body. His Sharingan ablaze as he looked over to his own _mother_ who was sitting down against the wall below the window, recalcitrance, and despair written all over her face as she stared back up at him.

"Itachi!" Naruto roared, getting the dark-haired teen's attention.

The Uchiha prodigy turned his head to face Naruto, his facial expression devoid of any emotion, whatsoever, as he held his sword up. The crimson red Sharingan eyes scanned him briefly, and Itachi calmly spoke, "You would think that, after losing control and almost committing treason, you would stop using this new power of yours. Shisui's death must have been harder on you than I realized."

Naruto's eyes narrowed dangerously as he clenched his fist tightly. "And that would come from you? You have slaughtered your own family, your own flesh and blood! You were ready to kill both of your parents and your brother! What the hell is going on with you? And that masked man…"

"They were holding me back, and you should leave too if you don't want to join them." Itachi's monotone voice was drier than Naruto had ever heard it before.

As Itachi raised his sword above his mother's head, the older woman's eyes widening in surprise, the Uchiha didn't get time to react before Naruto grabbed his ANBU vest and flung them out of the window, the glass shattering with a trail of lightning following them before they crashed and rolled across the grass.

"Cut the crap! What is going on?! Why are you killing the Uchiha?!" Naruto yelled at the top of his lungs, already back on his feet as his body twitched with small jolts of pain rushing through it. This new power of his… it took a lot out of him.

"What is that power of yours? I have never seen anything like it. I can't even properly copy it with my Sharingan." Itachi said as he completely and utterly _ignored_ Naruto's questions.

The blond just narrowed his eyes and lowered his head. He truly didn't know. He had never used this before, nor did he understand how it worked. What he did know was that his body was hurting even _days_ after using it the first time. His muscles and cells sore all the way to his trembling bones as he channeled it through his body.

"Don't ignore me you twisted piece of shit… Answer me!"

Itachi's lips lifted up into a small smirk as he swatted his sword to the side. Droplets of blood flicked onto the grass as his Sharingan spun around, "To test the limits of my abilities." Was his only response as he ran forward, his sword held by his side as he slashed the sharp metal toward the blond's head.

Naruto flipped out of the sword's range and reached for a handful of Shuriken. The metal between his fingers erupting in electricity before they were tossed at lightning speed toward Itachi, who deflected each and every one of them with ease. Yet, surprisingly, the last Shuriken crashed hard with his blade. The black lightning enhanced metal cut into the sword, making its blade snap in half.

Itachi raised a brow with a fascinated look. He hadn't expected that. Tossing the broken blade onto the ground, he dashed forward again and started throwing punches and kicks at the blond, who preceded to block or dodge them all with veritable ease.

The Uchiha grunted briefly as each time he clashed with his blond opponent, strong waves of lightning passed through his body, numbing his muscles as he flipped away.

"Don't give me that, don't you think I've seen how none of this matches up? First Fugaku, and then the gate guards... The Uchiha, overall, have been acting strangely! All of a sudden Shisui dies, do you honestly believe that _I believe _your little story, whether it be him being suicidal, or about how you want to test your powers?!" Naruto hissed through gritted teeth.

"Shisui and the Uchiha were weak, and so are you." Itachi dryly responded as he started to flip through hand seals, however before he could finish his last seal Naruto appeared as a black lightning bolt before him, grasping him by his wrist as clenched his other hand into a fist, and proceeded to slam it into the raven head's gut, making him spit salvia all over the ground as his ANBU vest was then grabbed.

"YOU ALWAYS WERE A LOUSY LIAR!" Naruto cried in anguish, tossing Itachi at high speeds through the air as the Uchiha's body slammed sideways into a tree, his back arching around the holy log, with the bark and tree splintering from the impact before he slumped sideways onto the ground.

_All praise the holy log for its wonderful sacrifice_.

Itachi grunted slightly as his Sharingan caught onto the movement of Naruto close to him, he just managed to jump up into the air as the blond slammed an ax kick right into the ground where Itachi had been laying a moment prior. The ground cracked and shattered on impact.

'_His powers aren't as strong as before, I suppose he still hasn't recovered yet from his battle.' _Itachi mused as he finished the hand seals that Naruto had interrupted earlier. Bringing his fingers up to his mouth as he exhaled a huge blazing fireball down toward Naruto who flashed out of existence to avoid the attack that exploded against the tree.

'_He's still fast, though.' _Itachi thought to himself, a small inaudible chuckle escaping his lips as he landed on top of a branch, staring down to where Naruto flashed into existence.

The blond was panting slightly as the black lightning disappeared and his eyes returned to normal, his forehead and bangs drenched in sweat as his left hang limply to his side.

Standing up with his guard lowered, Naruto shifted his eyes up to look directly into Itachi's. Red Sharingan eyes locked with blue ones as Itachi's narrowed in surprise at both the actions and the following words.

"I just want the truth, kami damnit…" And there was a moment of silence. No words were said. And Naruto's eyes widened as Itachi's Sharingan spun rapidly, the tomoes morphing into a Shuriken with bent edges before his world went blank.

* * *

'_It shouldn't have come to this… If maybe I had done something to stop it, then the Uchiha and the village might have been…' _Mikoto's trail of thoughts ended abruptly when the lack of sound from outside finally registered in her ears.

She had been taking care of her youngest that Naruto had knocked out, probably to save him from any further mental damage, but she was still worried. Now that everything outside was quiet, she pulled her child into her arms and lifted her upper body to gaze out of the broken window.

The sight before her made her eyes widen dangerously. Itachi, her eldest son, was bleeding from his left eye as he turned around to leave. _'M-Mangekyou?' _She thought to herself with a mix of amazement and fear.

She knew that Fugaku had a Mangekyou Sharingan, but she also knew of the damage that it did to you. Both physically and mentally. Lifting Sasuke into her arms, she watched her son leave before she abruptly stormed out of the door and outside to the garden.

She looked around, trying to see if she could spot Itachi hiding somewhere but when she deemed that the coast was clear, she looked back to where the two teens had been fighting. Her eyes widened with worry as she watched what her son had done to his best friend.

Sprawled up against the porch, Naruto laid with his head hanging down with his chin resting against his chest. His eyes shut as a line of dried salvia trailed down from the corner of his mouth. In his shoulder, a kunai was firmly lodged in; warm blood spilled down his ANBU vest from his impaled skin.

"Naruto!" She called out and dropped to her knees beside him, Sasuke firmly placed against her as she used her free hand to check his pulse.

He was still alive. She sighed with relief as he placed a hand on his cheek, looking him over with worry.

'_He's out of it, but the only damage he suffered was to his shoulder… Did Itachi use genjutsu on him?' _She wondered, her hand roaming into his hair to gently stroke it while waiting for the eventual help to arrive. What she didn't get was why Itachi had left her alive.

* * *

**I seem to apologize a lot for the wait, but yeah, a lot of stuff is going on. I have school, and I've been a bit sick. Plus, I have had some difficulty with this chapter, so I honestly won't be surprised if you don't find it that good either. **

**Anyhow, what did you think Itachi did to Naruto? Just what torture did Itachi place him under, I wonder.**


	11. Aftermath

_**Chapter 11 - Aftermath.**_

* * *

**Pairing: Naruto x Uchiha Mikoto. **

**THIS WILL ****NOT**** BE A HAREM**

**A/N: I'M ALIVE! I've risen from the dead!... I know… I know... It's been far too long without any update or a message from me. To be honest, I have no excuse. I've been a lazy bum, and I could tell so many stories about having been sick, or something else, but that has not been the case. Most ironically, now that I'm actually sick, I've felt like writing again. How weird is that?**

**Anyhow, it's been a while since I have written anything. So please go easy on me for the next couple of chapters.**

**Thank you, SO MUCH, for the 200+ reviews, 700+ favorites, and 1000+ follows on the story! I appreciate each and every one of you, and all your support!**

**By the way, follow my Twitter, would ya? = Skairipa1337**

**Warning: The main character's age has been adjusted.**

* * *

_The Hospital… Again._

* * *

He groggily opened his eyes and stared right up into the bright white light annoying his eyes. Groaning slightly, he rubbed his eyes and sat up. Looking around him, he groaned even louder as he threw his pillow at the wall. _'Great, I just escaped this place. And now I'm back. Damn hospital.'_

Looking around with a tired expression, his gaze fell upon the neatly stacked pile of his clothes and raised a brow, "I had them prepare your clothes for you, I doubted you'd stick around for the official check out." A voice called from the doorway, making his vision snap to the person speaking who turned out to be his grandfather figure.

"Oji-san…" Naruto mumbled as he reached forward and grasped his shirt first. Standing out of the bed as he started changing out of the hospital clothes without a care in the world.

Hiruzen stayed quiet as he entered the room, subtly closing the door behind him with an audible click as he waltzed in, taking a seat beside the formerly occupied hospital bed. "How are you feeling?"

Naruto snorted at the question as he started getting himself into his pants, buckling his belt, "My surrogate family is just a pile of rotting flesh now, I'd say I'm doing great." He scowled and with a bit more aggressive movement, took his cloak and started wrapping it around his neck to let it fall around his frame. Normally he didn't like to wear it, but he was starting to feel a bit attached after his stint in Kusa.

Hiruzen fought the urge to roll his eyes at the sarcastic remark, and opted to just sigh sadly, "Are you ready to get out of here?"

"Yes." Was the blond's short and simple response as he let go of his belt.

Giving a quiet nod, Hiruzen looked around the room before eventually just staring out of the window, "Akari and Karin are doing well, I thought you wanted to know that."

"That's good." The blonde acknowledged with a nod while adjusting his clothes to shit properly.

"They're worried about you."

Naruto paused and sighed, scratching the back of his head, "I will go check on them when I'm out of here."

Deciding that the real matter at hand couldn't be delayed any further, Hiruzen coughed into his hand and got a more serious look in his eyes. "Naruto, the two of us need a talk. I have stuff that you need to hear so that you won't self destruct further from this."

"Self destruct?" The blond raised a brow and turned around to face the older man.

Hiruzen nodded at him calmly, and leaned back into the chair, "I don't think I need to remind you what happened earlier, do I? I mean, it was quite the show we put on."

Naruto cringed at the mention and sat down on the hospital bed, intertwining his fingers as he looked down with slight shame, "No you don't… what do you need to tell me?"

"The truth. About a lot of things. I need you to know that I trust you Naruto, I'd trust you with my life if it came to that. Hence why I'm coming forward now, so you don't have to find out later." Hiruzen spoke seriously, his gaze trying to catch the attention of Naruto's that were seemingly glued to the hospital floor.

The younger male sat straight and met the Hokage's gaze, and said nothing as he awaited what was to come.

Hiruzen took a deep breath and blinked before saying, "The Uchiha clan was massacred as you know. And, since you were there I don't doubt that Itachi-kun would trick you into believing he had turned mad. It's simply just not the case. The Uchiha clan was planning a coup d'état."

Naruto's facial expression showed no sign of surprise or outrage. Which frankly didn't surprise Hiruzen either. He had suspected that Itachi could have told Naruto the truth himself. "They were planning to overthrow, due to pend up emotions and anger. Ever since the night of the Kyuubi attack, some of the villagers and shinobi have thought of them as responsible. And Itachi-kun he… took it upon himself to save the village and his clan's good name."

Naruto lowered his head and rested his arms on his thighs as his back slumped over. His golden locks hanging from his head as he took a deep breath, "I know. Itachi showed me everything." Naruto took a break to grit his teeth together, fighting the tears welling up in his eyes.

"How Danzo killed Shisui…"

"It's okay Naruto, you don't have to finish that sentence." Hiruzen interrupted and moved up to sit on the bed beside his surrogate grandson, placing a comforting hand on the blond's shoulder.

"Why did you keep it from me?" Naruto whispered harshly, but mostly to himself.

The old Hokage sighed and moved his hand down from the blond's shoulder, "It was Itachi and Shisui's request. You were already in a bad place, even if you did your best to hide it behind smiles and your ever so humoristic sarcastic comments." Hiruzen chuckled a bit, making a faint smile appear on Naruto's face.

"Why did it get so far?" Naruto questioned as he lifted his gaze back up to meet Hiruzen's.

Hiruzen took this moment to let out a deep breath, "The Uchiha's hate went a lot deeper than first anticipated. The lingering emotions were all the way back to the days of Tobirama-sensei. We tried, but the plans sped along faster than we could register. And as you know, before I could do anything, Danzo forced Itachi's hand."

Naruto clenched his first tightly as he stormed onto his feet, slamming his fist into the wall, cracking it slightly, "Damn that Danzo... I'm going to _tear _him limb from limb before making him _drown _in his own blood!"

"Naruto!" Hiruzen called out harshly, standing to his feet as he narrowed his eyes dangerously at the blond's back.

The blond spun around on his feet and glared back with narrowed eyes and furrowed brows, "What?!"

The Hokage softened his gaze and kept his gaze piercing and serious, "You cannot take any rash actions toward Danzo. Think of Mikoto and Sasuke! If you don't have a solid plan to take him down, then it could be _fatal_ outcomes for the people Itachi put in _your_ care."

Naruto tilted his head in confusion at Hiruzen's choice of words, "You aren't forbidding me of going against Danzo…"

"I have no idea about what you're talking about... Just, don't get yourself killed, and we can talk about it after the fact." Hiruzen spoke out calmly.

"Right… I do however have a request." Naruto sweatdropped and removed his hand from the wall, the slight debrief from the wall falling from his knuckles and onto the floor

"Do tell," Hiruzen asked curiously.

Naruto crossed his arms over his chest and leaned in against the wall he had just damaged, "I would like to leave the village for a while. And before you say no, it's for training. I would like to find Jiraiya and have him help me with my training. As you know, this newfound power of mine is… destructive. I don't understand it, or where it comes from. I don't understand how I managed to use it twice."

"Excuse me for being so straight forward, but have you taken a moment to think about Sasuke? About Mikoto? You are essentially the closest thing the two have left beside each other." Hiruzen responded simply, his mind in turmoil as he tried to understand the blond's request.

Naruto frowned and lowered his head, letting his bangs shadow over his eyes, "I _am_ thinking of them. I wasn't strong enough, I'm still not strong enough! That masked man he was there, the man from the Kyuubi attack."

Hiruzen's eyes widened at that. Itachi had failed to mention that. "Naruto, you do understand the seriosity of what you're saying, right?"

"I do, and that's why I ask this of you. I wasn't able to do anything against him, he _phased_ through my attacks. I couldn't even touch him. _I need this_. I have to get stronger, I have to be able to protect them! It was the only thing Itachi asked of me, and I _can't_ fail him! Not again…" Naruto said with his eyes snapped up to look deeply into Hiruzen's, his gaze pleading for acceptance.

"And who will protect them while you're away? Who will help them through their sorrow?" Hiruzen questioned again. While he didn't like the idea of letting Naruto go, even for a short while, he couldn't argue that the blond had a point. If this masked man was back, then danger was coming.

The blond ran a hand through his hair as his frown grew, "The ANBU can protect them, I know you probably already have them stationed around them for twenty-four-seven surveillance. And Mikoto still has her friends, the moms from the other clans, and Sasuke still has his mom. I don't see where I'm needed."

Hiruzen shook his head with a sigh, "You fail to realize how much you mean to them, especially to Mikoto. She sees you as a son, if not more. It wouldn't surprise me if you were the one she would confide in. Let her guard down to grieve."

"...What good is a broken tool for her? I can't even protect myself."

"Naruto…" Hiruzen paused, frowning to himself, "I will accept your request, but don't stay away for too long. I will give you the location of Jiraiya, you are free to leave when you deem fit. But remember what I said. Oh, and Mikoto and Sasuke are in the next room, none of them were injured, but they're here for a mental evaluation. I think giving them a visit might do you good." He finished and waltzed toward the door, giving Naruto a last smile before left the hospital room, letting Naruto get some space.

As he closed the door behind him, Hiruzen's lips morphed into a scowl as he clenched his fist together. _'One of the last things Kushina managed to say was something about a mask, and with what Naruto just told me… This is troubling, I have to be careful with this. Security needs to be sharpened, ANBU patrols all around the clock now. How did he get in so easily? Again…' _

* * *

When Naruto finally calmed down enough, he abruptly left his hospital room. Standing alone in the corridor, he heard the soft speaking voice of Mikoto next door, where Hiruzen had told him they were. With a heavy heart, he waltzed down to the door.

His eyes gazed sadly into the window in the door as he placed his hand against the glass, his frown appeared again as he watched them. Sasuke was crying. For obvious reasons. And Mikoto was sitting on the bed, holding her crestfallen child against her while saying calming and soothing words.

His eyes were red and the tear stains were ever so obvious on his cheeks, snot dripping from his nostrils as he buried his face in his mom's neck, clinging to her like a lifeline.

Naruto's eyes dropped to the floor as his hand started sliding down the window, before his hand fell limp at his side, _'If I had been stronger! if I had realized then maybe... I could have prevented this… I'm tired of what if's...'_

Taking a heavy breath, the blond knocked gently on the door, gaining the attention of the two Uchiha sitting within the room. When he heard the acknowledging 'Come in' he took a hold of the door handle, twisted it, and entered the room before closing the door behind him with an audible click.

Walking inside the room, Naruto felt a nervous drop of sweat rolling down from his forehead as he gave a subtle wave as a greeting.

Sasuke seemed to perk up at the sight of his blond brother figure, "Naruto-nii." It was _almost_ a cheerful greeting, but the sadness and endless sorrow filling those onyx orbs were drowning the happiness.

Mikoto put on a brave smile as she waved him inside. "Naruto, it's nice to see you." She said softly as she ran her hand through Sasuke's hair.

Naruto tried his best to smile as he took a seat beside Sasuke, on a chair placed beside the bed. "Likewise, I uhm, how are you feeling?"

The question seemed to bring a sad smile onto Mikoto's face, her hand momentarily stopping the gentle gesture of caressing Sasuke's head, "We're okay thanks to you, you came before… you know..."

"Why did Itachi do this? _How_ could he do this?" Sasuke all of a sudden asked in barely a whisper, his dark eyes staring right up into Naruto's blue ones as the kid's face trembled with sadness. A few stray tears spilled down his cheeks as his lips trembled. The brave look on his face rapidly failing to be maintained.

An awkward silence seemed to interrupt the room as Naruto's eyes just stared down into the floor. His fingers tapping idly against his thigh as he took a deep breath, "I don't know. I wish I did, then perhaps I could have done something to prevent all of this..." He _lied_ but he didn't know what he could or were _allowed_ to tell the poor child.

Sasuke's face fell as he just stared down into the bed, his small hands clenching around the hospital bed sheets.

"But I'm going to find out." Naruto put on a small smile as Sasuke looked up to him from the corner of his eyes.

Sasuke's mouth opened and closed a few times, it was like there were words he wanted to say, but didn't know how to.

Mikoto leaned in to kiss Sasuke's forehead before gently pushing him down against the soft mattress of the hospital bed, "Get some rest, it has been a long night." She whispered to him, and Sasuke didn't need to be told twice before his heavy eyelids shut close, allowing a dreamless sleep to claim him.

After she made sure Sasuke was indeed fast asleep, she looked up at Naruto who looked curiously back. Tilting her head toward the door, Naruto blinked and just nodded in agreement at the silent message.

Standing up from his seat with a small sigh, Naruto left the room and waited out in the hallway. Seconds later he was joined by Mikoto that gently closed the door to make sure it didn't wake Sasuke up again. Changing her gaze up to Naruto, she lifted her smaller hand and placed it against his shoulder, a small smile gracing her lips as she looked him over.

"Your shoulder is already healed." She just stated simply before letting her hand fall back down against her side.

A dry chuckle escaped the blond's lips as he scratched his cheek with his finger, "You should know that much about me already, I probably healed that small scratch before I even made it to the Hospital."

"Right…" She whispered softly, her eyes dropping to the ground as she stepped in closer. Her slender arms lifting up to wrap tightly around his neck as she leaned into him.

A pink tint rose upon Naruto's cheeks as he felt her hugging him close, a confused look on his face as he looked down to her, unable to gain eye contact from his current position, "Mikoto-basan?"

"Please?" She whispered, her request all too obvious.

A sad smile formed on his lips as he raised his arms, wrapping them protectively around her frame. Gently he stroked his palm up and down her back, a surprised look on his face when he started to feel her form lightly trembling against him.

Never once in his entire life had he seen Mikoto cry before. It truly broke his heart to see and _feel_ it. With each tremble her grasp on him tightened, her face buried in his chest as she grits her teeth together to try and fight back the tears.

"_You fail to realize how much you mean to them, especially to Mikoto. She sees you as a son, if not more. It wouldn't surprise me if you were the one she would confide in. Let her guard down to grieve."_

Hiruzen's words echoed through his mind, putting a bitter frown on Naruto's lips as he clutched her tighter, seemingly calming her more down. "Shh, it's okay, just let it out… Let it _all_ out." He shushed her, the restraints on her emotional walls breaking as she lightly bumped her forehead against his torso as she started crying against his shirt. The tears dampening his shirt and staining it.

"D-Damnit!" She muttered, her voice failing not to crack as she clenched her fingers around the back of his cloak, clutching the material in her grasp as she sobbed.

They stayed like that for a while, until Mikoto's tears dried out and she hesitantly withdrew herself from his warm body. The lack of warmth already affecting her as she leaned in against his chest again. She didn't want to be alone. It hurt so much to even think about it.

Closing her eyes, she rested her head against his torso. Her arms wrapped firmly around him as she listened closely to his heartbeat. The warmth emitting from his body seemed to pull her in, acting as a magnet that didn't seem to let go anytime soon.

"Can we stay like this for a while… please?" She whispered sorrowfully into his chest. The sound of her voice muzzled by the fabric, but easy enough to make out as he nodded and wrapped her firmly up in his arms.

"You don't even have to ask…" The blond frowned sadly at the state she was in. It was like a thorn was slowly pushed into his heart every time he would hear and _feel_ her shake as she sobbed against him. With shaky movement, he leaned his cheek down against her head and raised his hand to run his fingers down through her long soft black hair, massaging her scalp with his fingertips.

For a long time, she rested in his arms, listening to the calming melody of his heartbeat. Their arms wrapped around each other as they shared the warmth of their bodies, warming up their crestfallen hearts.

Taking a deep breath she eventually found the mental strength to actually pull away this time, a hand placed on his chest as she looked up to him, her eyes red and puffy as a small shy smile fell upon her lips, "I'm sorry, I ruined your shirt…"

Naruto shook his head and squeezed her briefly, "Don't worry about it, it's just a shirt. What matters is that you're feeling better. Are you?"

She couldn't help but let a smile grace her face as she nodded to him, "I feel much lighter now, thank you…"

"Don't thank me, please, it's my pleasure to be there for you when you need me," Naruto responded gently.

She lightly smacked his chest, "Don't make me cry again with sweet words…" She whispered with a shake of her head.

The blond gained a funny look as he placed his fingers against her sides and started to _mercilessly_ tickle her sides, making her squeal with laughter as she tried to push him away, "We can't have that now, can we?" Was the dark words that left his mouth, the evilest and cunning look, she had ever seen present on his face.

"S-Stop! You moron, s-stop! You're going to wake up S-Sasuke!" She cried with soft laughter and pushed away from him, gaining a small pout on her plump pink lips as she crossed her arms under her chest, her eyes slightly narrowed as she fought the urge to glare dangerously at her favorite blond.

Did he dare think... that it looked cute on her?

"Sorry, I couldn't resist…" Naruto sheepishly rubbed the back of his head, momentarily forgetting the tons of problems weighing down on him in her presence. The endless tons of bricks lifted off his heart, just for a mere second. Just long enough to let the warmth of the woman before him warm his heart up.

She shook her with a sigh, though the urge to smile was too hard to resist, "I should probably go check on Sasuke…" Despite how much she _desperately _wanted to bury her face in the crook of his neck and forget everything that happened again, she knew she had responsibilities as a mother that _always_ came first. Her baby needed her, and that was all that mattered at the moment.

Naruto nodded in understanding, "Yeah, I should probably go talk with Oji-san, but I uh, I will come around the Uchiha compound the day after tomorrow. I have something I want to talk with you about." As the last sentence left his lips, a small smile crawled upon them.

She tilted her head curiously at the words along with the charming smile that followed, her raven bangs hanging from her forehead as she raised a brow, "What about? We probably won't stay at the compound for a while."

Facepalming briefly, Naruto nodded and sighed, "Then, let's meet at my apartment instead. And I can't tell right now, but I will when you come around my apartment."

She blinked curiously but just nodded with a small smile, "Alright then, I'll see you then." She responded softly and leaned over to give him a warm hug, but quickly pulled away before the temptation of staying there in the warmth of his embrace until all of this mess had passed, could win her over.

* * *

His footsteps echoed all the way up through the Hokage tower. The lack of people and commotion in the building allowing the sound of his heavy footsteps to travel through the air, the soundwaves bouncing from wall to wall, from floor to ceiling as he made his way to the top floor. Hesitantly, he reached out for the doorknob. Grasping it with his hand, he turned it and pushed the door open, allowing the door to creek ever so loudly while revealing a dark empty office.

Sighing softly to himself, Naruto stepped inside the room and pushed the door shut behind him. The audible click of the door being shut accordingly, rung out through the room, before he let go. Walking up to the window behind Hiruzen's desk, Naruto gazed out over the village under the dark night sky.

His eyes roamed all over what he could see. There were Shinobi and ANBU everywhere, traveling from place to place within the village. They weren't all visible, yet he knew they were there. He could feel it. Just like he could feel the eyes of the fellow ANBU watching him from the ceiling, their curious gazes watching him, silently questioning what he was doing in the Hokage's office this late at night.

"I'm surprised to see you here so late, I didn't expect to see you before you'd depart." The sentence brought Naruto out of his musing as he turned around and faced the elderly Hokage. The older man held his pipe within his right hand, a tired solemn look on his face as he stepped into the office.

Naruto turning around after having acknowledged his surrogate grandfather's presence, his gaze once again locked on the view out of the window that Hiruzen joined him in sharing. "I talked with Mikoto-basan. I also talked with Sasuke, but it was hard to say anything. Do you know the feeling of failing someone you care about? The endless despair in the pit of your stomach as you realize you weren't there and when you were needed."

"An emotion most Shinobi are familiar with, or almost guaranteed will be." Hiruzen acknowledged as he sucked in the smoke from his pipe, before calmly letting it escape his nostrils.

The blond prodigy raised his hand and placed his palm against the window. Had the mood been better, Hiruzen would have made some comment about dirtying his windows, yet the mood wasn't quite there.

"That look on Sasuke's face said everything. It let me knew that I had failed them. I may not have heard the words directly from his mouth, but as the only person outside the Uchiha clan that was remotely close to them, it's like I should have been able to do more. And I agree." Naruto mumbled as he removed his hand from the cool glass of the window.

Hiruzen closed his eyes and shook his head in dismissal, "You are but a boy, you may be strong and experienced, but you are still just that. A boy. What has happened isn't, and will never be your nor Itachi's fault. The burden of an older generation was placed upon your shoulders, an unfair action committed by an even more unfair and cruel world."

He wanted to believe the man's words, he truly did, but the feeling in his gut was drowning Hiruzen words of logic with his own guilt. "Mikoto-basan is in a bad place, you may have been right. I guess I'm actually needed." He snorted as he finished the sentence, he didn't want to believe it, but the things he had heard and seen the last couple of hours was enough to sway his judgment.

"Just as I said, Mikoto-san thinks the world of you. Sasuke-kun sees you as a brother from my understanding, it is only natural for them to be in need of a familiar company that they know they can trust." Hiruzen nodded, happy to see that Naruto had managed to see some reason before it was too late. The experienced Shinobi could almost predict what role Naruto would have in the Uchiha's recovery. And what role they would have in his.

Naruto sighed and turned to face his grandfather figure one last time, "I'll stay for the time being, but I would like to see if Jiraiya could come here instead. This power of mine is destructive and too much for me to handle alone at the moment."

"It pleases me to hear that my boy, you are very much needed here. Now more than ever. I do however have one request I'd like to make before you leave." Hiruzen added, making Naruto raise a brow.

As he was sure he had the blond's attention, Hiruzen spoke up, "I would like for you to house Mikoto-san and Sasuke-kun in your family estate. I know you already share space with Akari and Karin, but I'm having Tenzo on stand by as we speak. He'll be able to create the rooms needed before dawn along with being able to help make them fully functional before Mikoto and Sasuke are leaving the hospital."

Naruto smiled slightly as he nodded, "That had been my plan all along, though I hadn't considered asking a favor from Tenzo. It's certainly less expensive than paying for the upgrade."

"Then it's settled, I'll have Tenzo started immediately. I suggest that you go back to your apartment and pack it up before dawn, and then go to gather Mikoto and Sasuke yourself. I think they would be more welcome to this idea if they heard it from you, not that I think they'd reject it either way, but you know how a trusted face is easier to speak with." Hiruzen finished off, and Naruto had nothing else to add.

With a quick bow, Naruto lowered his head in respect for his surrogate grandfather before bidding him farewell for the time being. As he had been suggested to do, he went directly home to start packing. The feeling in his gut hadn't disappeared, yet he felt better knowing he'd be surrounded by the people he cared about on a daily basis. It also made it easier for him to protect them.

He'd _die _before failing them again. Which was why he mentally noted that it was time to pick up his training. He may have been strong, but he wasn't strong _enough_.

It took him a surprisingly short time to pack and after two hours, he looked up at the clock to notice it was still in the middle of the night, which was good. He still had time before Tenzo was done, and thus had time to quickly inform Akari and Karin about what was going on, and what was happening.

He really owed them that. He had brought them here, and then basically disappeared from the surface of the world. There was without a doubt a bunch of apologies to be passed around and some explanations.

* * *

**How was it? A bit short maybe? I'm really sorry it took me so long, but I have been a lazy ass. I hope you guys can forgive me for that. My inspiration has also just been really weird the last couple of weeks. I have gotten new ideas that I've worked on every other day, and then the motivation for finishing them kind of died out. So, I took some time to read through my current works and was actually pleased to see how much I liked what I had made. So I think I'm back again, but I will make no promises. I'm still in school with exams and Christmas right around the corner, and some things I'll have to prioritize, but yeah. **

**I doubt you'll have to wait three more months for a new chapter.**

**ANYHOW! I've missed this part. Question of the chapter: How do you think Akari and Karin will react to Naruto finally returning?**


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